By JESSE GRAHAM
YARRA Ranges Council has finalised and adopted the Healesville Structure Plan, after three and a half years of consulting with residents about the future of the town.
Councillors unanimously agreed on Tuesday 9 August to adopt the Healesville Structure Plan, a document that maps out the future direction for the town and the council’s strategies over the next 20 years.
Ryrie Ward councillor Fiona McAllister moved an amended motion to adopt the Structure Plan, with minor changes to the document to “review the appropriateness of current planning controls” and zoning at the RACV Healesville Country Club.
Cr McAllister said she was “a bit sad” that no members of the community were in the public gallery at the council meeting to see the document adopted, but acknowledged that the plan had been through “a process of very intense consultation” since 2013.
“The deliberations in the community and around the Community Reference Group Table have, at times, been heated and that’s been great because it means that passion has led to really thorough consideration of some really challenging issues,” she said.
“Trying to get that balance right between maintaining the community feel of our beloved town with an incredible history and beautiful environment, the need for some development and … about, in a Structure Plan, how do you deal with the issue of bushfire risk?
“The Healesville Structure Plan cut our teeth in dealing with that issue in a very structured, strategic way in this context for the first time.”
The document itself outlines a number of strategies and actions the council plans to take around the area in coming years, taking on feedback from a number of community consultations and surveys.
One of the objectives in the plan includes creating a “greater diversity” of housing to meet residents’ needs and amending the Planning Scheme to allow consideration of subdivision of some Low Density Residential Zone lots into 0.2 hectare lots, provided sewerage is available.
Advocating for Yarra Valley Water to complete connection of currently-unconnected lots to reticulated sewerage, and to seek funding for a redevelopment of the town’s pool into an aquatics centre are other items listed in the plan.
Earlier in the year, Cr McAllister said the document was not an action plan, but a “blueprint” for council’s strategies and actions in the town.
O’Shannassy Ward councillor Jim Child said the plan was “magnificent”, and said the lack of opponents to the plan going forward at the meeting was a sign of its success.
“We haven’t got people in this gallery tonight jumping up and down that this is a bad outcome – I believe it’s a great outcome,” he said.
“Really, when you look at that plan and what’s really gone into it and the outcomes, it’s absolutely magnificent.”
To see the full Healesville Structure Plan, visit www.yarraranges.vic.gov.au
