Grange Planning Brain

title: Amendment C103gpla - Dardel Drive Bannockburn Rezoning council: golden-plains state: vic category: amendment classification: MAJOR status: approved last_compiled: 2026-05-30 source_docs:

  • Council Meeting Agenda - 25 Feb 2025.pdf
    1. Agenda - Council Meeting - 10 September 2024.pdf
  • Att 7.5 C105gpla Planning Scheme Amendment Documents.pdf
  • Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf

Amendment C103gpla - Dardel Drive Bannockburn Rezoning

Amendment C103gpla converted 3.5 hectares of Council-owned land in the northern part of the Bannockburn Recreation Precinct from a previously planned public open space role into Neighbourhood Residential Zone land and enabled a 51-lot residential subdivision through an accompanying planning permit. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1) Its planning significance is not the lot count alone, but the mechanism: Council first determined that part of a recreation precinct was surplus to public open space needs, then the Minister for Planning completed the rezoning and permit pathway, leaving the post-approval issue as a governance and community confidence question rather than a live rezoning question. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1)

Background

The initiating decision occurred in March 2021, when Council decided that some land in the Bannockburn Recreation Precinct would not be needed for public open space as originally planned. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1) After that decision, Council prepared documents and plans and lodged an application to rezone the land to Neighbourhood Residential Zone, with the same application also seeking permission to subdivide the land into 51 lots. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1)

The statutory pathway moved from Council initiation into a Minister-led exhibition and decision process. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1) The Minister for Planning commenced public exhibition in March 2023, residents were invited to make submissions through the planning scheme amendment process, submitters were able to present to a Ministerial Panel in September 2023, and the Minister rezoned the land in December 2023 while also issuing a planning permit for a 51-lot residential subdivision. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1)

The post-approval governance issue emerged after a community petition was received in January 2024 and tabled at the February 2024 Council meeting. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1) By March 2024, Council officers had uploaded an updated fact sheet, sent or posted it to petition signatories, sent or posted it to adjoining or nearby reserve property owners, created a Have Your Say page, and proposed an open information session before May 2024. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1)

Analysis

Land Supply Mechanism

The amendment produces a direct land supply outcome of 51 lots from 3.5 hectares, which is an implied gross yield of about 14.6 lots per hectare before allowing for roads, drainage, reserves, or other non-lot land. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1) Because the available C103gpla source does not provide a net developable area, road reserve area, drainage area, lot size schedule, or permit plan, this analysis can only calculate the gross conversion rate and cannot test whether the final subdivision is compact, medium-density, or conventional neighbourhood residential subdivision in built-form terms. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1)

The decisive planning mechanism was not a broad growth-area framework; it was the release of Council-owned recreation precinct land that had previously been understood as part of the public open space system. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1) In practical terms, this means the amendment traded one planning function, potential public open space, for another planning function, residential land supply, after Council determined in March 2021 that the land was surplus to its public open space needs. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1)

This differs from the later Amendment C105gpla - Ormond Street Bannockburn Rezoning, which is framed as rezoning privately owned Farming Zone land to General Residential Zone 1 and applying Development Plan Overlay Schedule 19. (Source: 00. Agenda - Council Meeting - 10 September 2024.pdf, p.18) C105gpla is expected to add about 170 lots on 16.93 hectares, while C103gpla forms part of a group of earlier Bannockburn rezonings that collectively added 183 lots with Amendments C059gpla and C072gpla. (Source: Council Meeting Agenda - 25 Feb 2025.pdf, pp.29-30; Source: 00. Agenda - Council Meeting - 10 September 2024.pdf, p.19)

The C105gpla reports show why C103gpla matters in the cumulative land supply picture even though it is smaller than the later Ormond Street proposal. (Source: Council Meeting Agenda - 25 Feb 2025.pdf, pp.29-30) Council officers reported that the 2015 Residential Land Supply Monitoring Project found only 4 years of zoned broad-hectare residential land supply in Bannockburn, and that the combined additional 183 lots from C059gpla, C072gpla, and C103gpla translated to only about 4.4 years of further supply at an average growth rate of 41.5 lots per year. (Source: Council Meeting Agenda - 25 Feb 2025.pdf, pp.29-30; Source: 00. Agenda - Council Meeting - 10 September 2024.pdf, p.19) On that arithmetic, C103gpla was a supply increment, but not a structural solution to Bannockburn’s broader residential land supply constraint. (Source: Council Meeting Agenda - 25 Feb 2025.pdf, pp.29-30)

Public Open Space Trade-Off

The central unresolved analytical issue is whether the loss of 3.5 hectares of recreation precinct land is acceptable in open space network terms. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1) The available Dardel report states that Council had decided the land was surplus to public open space needs, but it does not provide the open space needs assessment, recreation master plan, catchment analysis, service standards, or alternative provision analysis that would allow that conclusion to be independently tested. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1)

This gap matters because Council separately reported in September 2024 that it lacked an adopted municipal Open Space Strategy to provide strategic direction for ongoing public open space provision and to justify public open space monetary or land contributions beyond the default 5 percent where necessary. (Source: 00. Agenda - Council Meeting - 10 September 2024.pdf, p.14) Council also reported that without such a strategy it had previously been challenged at VCAT on public open space contributions, including outcomes reducing requested contributions to 1 percent and 2 percent in cited subdivision matters. (Source: 00. Agenda - Council Meeting - 10 September 2024.pdf, pp.14-15)

The effect is that C103gpla sits inside a wider open space governance problem. (Source: 00. Agenda - Council Meeting - 10 September 2024.pdf, pp.14-17) Council’s March 2021 surplus decision may have been valid, but the manifest documents do not include the evidence base showing how the recreation precinct’s future function, local accessibility, population growth, and replacement or upgraded open space needs were assessed before the land was released for housing. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1; Source: 00. Agenda - Council Meeting - 10 September 2024.pdf, pp.14-17)

Community Process and Contested Issues

The amendment had a formal planning process and a later community response process. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1) During the formal process, exhibition commenced in March 2023, submissions were invited, and residents could present submissions to a Ministerial Panel in September 2023. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1) After the Minister rezoned the land and issued the 51-lot permit in December 2023, the January 2024 petition shifted the matter into Council’s governance and communications process. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1)

The March 2024 officer report treated the petition process as supporting transparency, community engagement, and public transparency principles under the Local Government Act 2020 and Council’s Governance Rules. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.2) The officer recommendation was not to reopen the planning merits of the rezoning, but to note actions taken, note the intended information session, and receive a further report after additional community consultation. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1)

The available documents do not provide the petition text, number of petition signatories, issues raised in the petition, submissions to the Ministerial Panel, Panel report, officer response to individual submissions, or final permit conditions. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, pp.1-3) This prevents a proper contested-issues analysis of traffic, open space, neighbourhood character, drainage, recreation impacts, or procedural fairness concerns for C103gpla. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, pp.1-3)

Infrastructure and Servicing Dependencies

The Dardel source confirms the approved subdivision yield but does not state the road, drainage, sewer, water, open space, or community infrastructure conditions attached to the 51-lot permit. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1) That is a material limitation because a rezoning can create planning permission in principle, while the permit conditions determine the practical delivery mechanism for roads, drainage, connections, construction management, and timing. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1)

The broader Bannockburn context shows why servicing details matter. (Source: 00. Agenda - Council Meeting - 10 September 2024.pdf, p.18; Source: Council Meeting Agenda - 25 Feb 2025.pdf, pp.48-52) Council’s C105gpla material states that Bannockburn is the only town in the south of the Shire with reticulated sewer and is relied upon to deliver most of the Shire’s growth and support surrounding smaller towns with services and amenities. (Source: 00. Agenda - Council Meeting - 10 September 2024.pdf, p.18) Council’s February 2025 Integrated Water Management report also states that Bannockburn’s growth requires coordinated water supply, sewage management, flood and stormwater management, and public open space irrigation and maintenance over a 30-plus-year horizon. (Source: Council Meeting Agenda - 25 Feb 2025.pdf, pp.48-49)

For C103gpla specifically, the missing permit and engineering material means this page cannot verify whether the 51-lot subdivision internalises all local infrastructure impacts or relies on later Council works. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1) The February 2025 finance report records that proceeds from the sale of two Lomandra Drive lots had been received in the first two quarters of 2024-25 and that two more lots were in progress, but the manifest documents do not state whether those lots are part of the Dardel Drive/C103gpla land, so no direct link should be assumed. (Source: Council Meeting Agenda - 25 Feb 2025.pdf, pp.65-66)

Relationship to Later Bannockburn Rezonings

C103gpla is best read as an interim residential land release within Bannockburn rather than as the main long-term growth-area mechanism. (Source: Council Meeting Agenda - 25 Feb 2025.pdf, pp.29-30) Council’s later C105gpla reports state that the current zoned supply had effectively been exhausted after accounting for the earlier 4 years of supply and the additional 4.4 years created by C059gpla, C072gpla, and C103gpla. (Source: Council Meeting Agenda - 25 Feb 2025.pdf, pp.29-30) The same reports identify the Bannockburn South East Precinct and Bannockburn North West Precinct as the future precincts expected to provide longer-term supply once realised. (Source: Council Meeting Agenda - 25 Feb 2025.pdf, p.30; Source: 00. Agenda - Council Meeting - 10 September 2024.pdf, p.19)

The practical implication is sequencing. (Source: Council Meeting Agenda - 25 Feb 2025.pdf, pp.29-30) C103gpla and the other small rezonings added lots during the period before the larger Bannockburn growth precincts were finalised, but they did not remove the need for those larger precincts, and they did not appear to establish a comprehensive infrastructure funding framework for the town’s full growth program in the available documents. (Source: Council Meeting Agenda - 25 Feb 2025.pdf, pp.29-30; Source: 00. Agenda - Council Meeting - 10 September 2024.pdf, p.19)

Current Status

The rezoning and planning permit are approved. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1) The Minister rezoned the land in December 2023 and a planning permit was issued for a 51-lot residential subdivision. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1)

As at the March 2024 report, the active matter was post-approval consultation and information sharing following a petition received in January 2024 and tabled in February 2024. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1) Officers intended to hold an open information session during April 2024 and bring a further report to Council with a recommendation on the way forward after consultation. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1)

Dependencies

  • Blocks: The approved rezoning and permit remove the planning scheme zoning barrier to the 51-lot subdivision of the 3.5-hectare Dardel Drive land. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1)
  • Blocked by: The manifest documents do not identify any remaining statutory blocker after the December 2023 Ministerial rezoning and permit issue, but they also do not provide permit conditions or implementation milestones. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1)
  • Informed by: The available C103gpla source refers to Council-prepared documents and plans, public exhibition, submissions, and a Ministerial Panel, but those underlying documents are not included in the manifest. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1)
  • Implements: The amendment contributes a small residential land supply increment in Bannockburn, a town identified in later Council reports as the Shire’s main southern settlement with reticulated sewer and the main location relied upon for growth. (Source: 00. Agenda - Council Meeting - 10 September 2024.pdf, p.18)
  • Conflicts with: The main policy tension is between residential land supply and the previous public open space role of land in the Bannockburn Recreation Precinct. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1) That tension is sharpened by Council’s separate September 2024 finding that it needed an Open Space Strategy to guide provision, function, gaps, upgrades, and contribution settings for public open space across the Shire. (Source: 00. Agenda - Council Meeting - 10 September 2024.pdf, pp.14-17)

No direct cross-jurisdictional dependency for C103gpla is documented in the manifest sources. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, pp.1-3) The broader Bannockburn growth program does involve state and regional systems, including the Minister for Planning’s role in the C103gpla rezoning, the Ministerial Panel process, and Bannockburn’s reliance on reticulated sewer and integrated water management coordination. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1; Source: 00. Agenda - Council Meeting - 10 September 2024.pdf, p.18; Source: Council Meeting Agenda - 25 Feb 2025.pdf, pp.48-52)

Gaps in This Analysis

The C103gpla evidence base in the manifest is thin. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, pp.1-3) The missing primary documents are the exhibited amendment documentation, explanatory report, planning permit, permit conditions, subdivision plan, Council report from the original March 2021 surplus decision, community petition, submissions, Ministerial Panel report, Minister’s approval documentation, and Dardel Drive fact sheet referred to as an attachment but not included in the extracted text. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, p.1)

The absence of those documents prevents proper analysis of lot sizes, net developable area, transport conditions, drainage conditions, servicing upgrades, open space replacement or offset logic, recreation precinct impacts, sale or disposal terms, and the specific reasons residents objected after approval. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, pp.1-3) This should be logged as a corpus gap in _gaps because C103gpla is a completed rezoning affecting public land, open space planning, and residential land supply, but the corpus only contains a short post-approval update rather than the statutory amendment record. (Source: Att 7.2 Dardel March Council Report.pdf, pp.1-3)

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