Planning reforms are underway. What is Council doing?
New planning reforms will change the way development applications are lodged and assessed. This new system forms the rules that will govern all future development.
This new legislation introduces the biggest changes to the South Australian Planning System in 25 years and will affect how development policy is formed and amended and how development applications are lodged, assessed, approved and publicly notified in the future. It will include changes to which types of development will trigger notification to neighbouring property owners, residents and other community members, and when they have legal appeal rights. It may also have sweeping impacts on the look and feel of our suburbs and, potentially, property values.
Most importantly, the new Code will become the State's single planning rule book for assessing all development applications, removing the existing Council specific Development Plans. This means that Council’s current Development Plan will be revoked by July 2020, at which time current zoning will be replaced with a single state-wide planning and design code. Council is lobbying the State Government for better heritage protection and hopes the community can help by having a say on the new Code.
In early May 2019, the State Planning Commission released its proposals for neighbourhood change and its proposed approach for transitioning heritage and character policy from current development plans into the Planning and Design Code.
Currently Council has Historic Conservation Zones (HCZ) in our Development Plan. They are areas that have valued historic buildings with particular historic character and are sought-after areas to buy residential property. Contributory Items are buildings within the HCZ that make a positive contribution to the heritage value and desired character of the area.
Property values in Burnside’s HCZ traditionally perform well. Removal of these buildings will result in the loss of our City’s valued heritage and will significantly change the character of an area and thus potentially threaten property values. Less protection for heritage could change the look and feel of those suburbs such as Rose Park, Eastwood and Toorak Gardens, potentially reducing the value of properties in these areas.
And this is no different in suburbs that do not have heritage protection. The proposed new planning system could change our City’s landscape and the cost being the residential character of your street or suburb, potentially affecting your general sense of community as well as the bottom line of property values.
Council is lobbying the State Government for better heritage protection and hopes the community can help by having a say on the new Code.
Council has presented the Minister for Planning, the Hon. Stephan Knoll, with a Statement of Intent to convert our current Heritage Conservation Zone policy areas into nine ‘Local Heritage Places’ through a Development Amendment Process. This approach will better recognise and protect the important value that these heritage places have for our community
While the State Government has indicated that the intent of the new draft code is similar, it is not identical, to what Burnside currently has in place.
As the draft code stands now you could start to see tree removals, increased subdivisions, increased traffic, parking congestion and larger buildings. Notwithstanding potential limited rights of appeal.
Council will continue to lobby the State Government to protect our residential character, built heritage and trees.
For more information and to find out how to have your say visit engage.burnside