Last call: THE GREEN WEDGES NEED YOU NOW
Please email or submit online to the Government’s consultation
Closing date for submissions: Friday 5th February 2021
The Green Wedges are under the most serious threat since the 2010-12 land grabs and the 2013 removal of protections. If you are having problems with the long-form on-line submission guide we sent out earlier, please try the attached short-form submission guide, or use it as a pro forma for a submission you can submit by email.
The State Planning Minister, Richard Wynne's 2018 election pledge was that “A re-elected Andrews Labor Government will permanently tighten controls to better protect Melbourne’s green wedges against over development, with the protections enshrined in legislation”
But some of the options his Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) has put out for consultation would spell death by a thousand cuts around the edges of the Green Wedges as illustrated above. Their proposed "transition" area would blur the Urban Growth boundary with a grey border of suburban sprawl, rezoned to Rural Living zone or Farming zone, where urban uses like concrete crushers, data centres, schools, places of worship, bars, motels, car washes and motor repairs would be encouraged as shown above, and the Green Wedges would shrink to half their size.
While some of our more IT-savvy members have been able to cope with our guide to the more complicated DELWP on-line long-form submission that we sent out earlier, many have found it impossible.
So here is a shorter, simpler, two-page guide to the short-form submission on the DELWP https://engage.vic.gov.au/gwal website which will also serve as a submission you can email to planning.implementation@delwp.vic.gov.au or put in an envelope and post to the address below.
You can fill it out on your computer, or if you print it out on paper, please delete whichever alternative words do not apply, or alter to better express your views:
- use this draft submission as a guide to complete the short form submission online at:
https://engage.vic.gov.au/gwal-consultation-materials-submission-forms (this is preferred)
- submit it by email to planning.implementation@delwp.vic.gov.au. (next best)
- or post a paper copy to Asok Rao, Manager, Planning for Melbourne’s Green Wedges and Agricultural Land, DELWP, PO Box 500, East Melbourne VIC 8002
We spoke to senior DELWP officers about the problems with their form and they told us:
- They will accept email (or paper) submissions, but when they analyse the responses,
- on-line submissions will more easily be included in the pie-charts and
- email submissions that respond to their options (as this one does) will also be easier for them to analyse.
- They will accept submissions up to 10 days late, if you have problems with their survey format and/or if you phone 1800 517 389 by the 5 February deadline.
- If you are submitting for a group (please do so) you can also lodge a personal submission.
- They will include our names on our personal submissions if we ask them to (we have included this option in the attached draft submission format.)
Allbest
Rosemary West
Coordinator, Green Wedges Coalition,
For help with submissions, click here to contact Alan Thatcher or goto the website contact page.
For technical difficulties re the on-line survey format, ring DELWP at 1800 517 389
