Grange Planning Brain

title: Teesdale Flood Risk Identification Study council: golden-plains state: vic category: constraint classification: MAJOR status: in-progress last_compiled: 2026-05-30 source_docs:

  • Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf
  • Item 7.1 Attachments - Planning Scheme Amendment C104gpla - Teesdale Flood Study Panel Report.pdf
  • Item 7.1 Planning Scheme Amendment C104gpla Teesdale Flood Study 5.pdf
  • 8.4.1 - Authorisation of Planning Scheme Amendment C104 - Tessdale Flood Study.pdf
  • 8.4.2 - Authorisation of Planning Scheme Amendment C104 - Tessdale Flood Study-2.pdf

Teesdale Flood Risk Identification Study

The Teesdale Flood Risk Identification Study has moved from technical flood investigation into statutory implementation through Planning Scheme Amendment C104gpla, which proposes to update the Flood Overlay and Land Subject to Inundation Overlay maps for Teesdale. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6) Its planning significance is that it converts flood modelling into permit-triggering land controls, changing how affected land is assessed before new buildings or works can proceed. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6)

The amendment is classified as MAJOR because it affects natural-hazard controls across a township, received 19 total submissions when one late submission is counted, and was considered by an independent Planning Panel. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6)

Background

The Study was funded through the Risk and Resilience Grants Program managed by Emergency Management Victoria, with Australian Government and Victorian Government funding under the National Partnership Agreement for Disaster Risk Reduction. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6) Council reports that the Study incorporated model validation and climate change effects, was finalised in March 2023, and was adopted by Council in October 2023. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6)

The statutory implementation pathway began when Council resolved in October 2023 to seek Ministerial authorisation for an amendment to implement the Study. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6) The 2023 authorisation attachments are present in the corpus as two PDFs, but their extracted text contains page headers rather than readable analytical content, so the underlying 2023 flood-study maps, model assumptions, and amendment instructions cannot be independently analysed from the extracted text. (Source: 8.4.1 - Authorisation of Planning Scheme Amendment C104 - Tessdale Flood Study.pdf) (Source: 8.4.2 - Authorisation of Planning Scheme Amendment C104 - Tessdale Flood Study-2.pdf)

Amendment C104gpla was exhibited from 6 February 2025 to 10 March 2025. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6) Exhibition included letters to relevant agencies and prescribed ministers, letters to 139 owners and occupiers of Teesdale properties within the proposed changes to the FO and LSIO, public notice in the Golden Plains Times, and notice in the Government Gazette. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6)

Analysis

Statutory Mechanism

The amendment implements the Study by changing the planning-scheme maps for two flood controls: the Flood Overlay and the Land Subject to Inundation Overlay. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6) The practical mechanism is map-based rather than policy-only: once land is included in an overlay, future planning permit decisions must consider the flood-control purpose of that overlay, rather than relying only on informal knowledge that a site may flood. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6)

Council identifies the planning risk of not proceeding in direct terms: if the amendment is not approved, buildings may be constructed in areas subject to flood, increasing risk to people and property. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.8) Council also states that outdated planning-scheme mapping may expose it to litigation risk, including class actions, if development is approved in locations where updated flood-risk information exists but has not been translated into statutory controls. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.8)

This means the Study is not merely a background technical report. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6) Its planning function is to decide which Teesdale properties should carry flood-related permit triggers and which properties should not. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6) That matters for both new development and alterations to existing development, because overlay mapping becomes the statutory reference point used by Council, referral authorities, applicants, and affected residents. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6)

Evidence Base and Model Acceptance

The available readable source states that the Study incorporated model validation and climate change effects. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6) Council also identifies the Australian Rainfall and Runoff guide, the Corangamite Regional Floodplain Management Strategy, and Victoria’s Climate Science Report 2024 as strategic and technical reference points relevant to the amendment. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.8)

During the Panel process, Council engaged Water Technology to provide expert evidence, and the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority participated in support of the proposed amendment. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6) One resident party called Mark Colegate of Arcadis to provide expert evidence in flooding, indicating that the contested issues included technical flood-modelling evidence rather than only property-owner preference. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6)

The Panel found that the basis for the amendment was clear and well supported, and that the flood-study methodology and Study findings were appropriate and provided a suitable basis for flood-control mapping. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.7) The Panel recommended that Council adopt Amendment C104gpla as exhibited. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.7)

The strongest planning implication is that the independent review did not require a redrawing of the exhibited FO or LSIO controls. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.7) That narrows the remaining statutory question from technical redesign to adoption and Ministerial approval. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.7)

Exhibition and Contested Issues

The amendment received 18 submissions during exhibition, comprising three agency submissions and 15 Teesdale resident submissions. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6) One further submission was received after the April 2025 Council Meeting, bringing the total known submission count to 19. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6)

Council referred all submissions to an independent Planning Panel after the April 2025 Council Meeting. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6) The Panel hearing occurred on 30 June and 1 July 2025, and the Panel Report was provided to Council on 31 July 2025. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6)

Four residents were parties to the Panel. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6) The readable agenda does not list each submission issue, each affected property, or the Panel’s issue-by-issue reasoning, because the attached Panel Report is image-only in the extracted text. (Source: Item 7.1 Attachments - Planning Scheme Amendment C104gpla - Teesdale Flood Study Panel Report.pdf) This is a material analytical gap: the corpus confirms that technical contest occurred, but it does not expose the detailed points of disagreement, the expert assumptions tested, or the Panel’s reasoning on individual sites. (Source: Item 7.1 Attachments - Planning Scheme Amendment C104gpla - Teesdale Flood Study Panel Report.pdf)

Climate Change Treatment

Council states that the Study considered climate change effects. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6) Council also states that the amendment adopts a climate change scenario to address environmental sustainability impacts. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.8)

The mechanism is important: a climate-change scenario can expand the mapped flood extent compared with a historical-only model, which can place more land inside FO or LSIO controls. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.8) The readable source does not state the rainfall uplift, emissions scenario, planning horizon, hydraulic model used, or property-by-property change in mapped area, so the scale of the climate-change adjustment cannot be quantified from the extracted corpus. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.8)

Property Notification and Land-Affectation Signal

Council notified 139 owners and occupiers of properties in Teesdale that were within the proposed changes to the FO and LSIO. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6) That figure is the best available proxy for the scale of direct landholder affectation in the readable corpus. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6)

The 139-notice figure does not mean 139 properties are newly constrained, because the wording refers to owners and occupiers of properties within the proposed overlay changes and does not separate owners from occupiers, existing controls from new controls, or FO changes from LSIO changes. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6) The figure does show that the amendment is township-scale rather than a single-site correction. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6)

Decision Pathway and Current Statutory Stage

Council was required under section 27(1) of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 to consider the Panel Report before deciding whether to adopt the amendment. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.7) The officer recommendation for the 23 September 2025 Council Meeting was to receive the Panel Report, adopt Amendment C104gpla as exhibited, and request Ministerial approval under section 31 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6)

The amendment was therefore at the post-Panel, pre-Ministerial-approval stage in the 23 September 2025 agenda. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.7) If Council adopted the amendment, the next formal step was to request approval from the Minister for Planning. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.7)

The readable corpus does not include a Council meeting minute confirming whether Council accepted the officer recommendation on 23 September 2025, nor does it include a Ministerial approval notice or gazettal notice. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.7) The status should therefore be treated as in-progress unless a later approval or gazettal source is added. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.7)

Current Status

As at the 23 September 2025 agenda, the independent Panel had recommended adoption of Amendment C104gpla as exhibited. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.7) The officer recommendation was for Council to adopt the amendment and request Ministerial approval. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6) The corpus does not contain a later gazettal or approval document, so the amendment cannot be confirmed as approved from the supplied extracted text. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.7)

Dependencies

  • Blocks: Reliable use of updated Teesdale flood-risk information in statutory permit assessment is blocked until Amendment C104gpla is approved and the FO and LSIO maps are updated. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6)
  • Blocked by: The amendment was blocked by Council adoption and Ministerial approval after the Panel Report stage. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.7)
  • Informed by: The amendment is informed by the Teesdale Flood Risk Identification Study, Water Technology evidence, the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority position, the Corangamite Regional Floodplain Management Strategy, Australian Rainfall and Runoff, and Victoria’s Climate Science Report 2024. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, pp.6-8)
  • Implements: The amendment implements the Teesdale Flood Risk Identification Study through changes to FO and LSIO maps. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6)
  • Conflicts with: The readable corpus shows resident contest through 15 resident submissions and four resident parties at Panel, but it does not expose the detailed property-level conflicts or requested changes. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6) (Source: Item 7.1 Attachments - Planning Scheme Amendment C104gpla - Teesdale Flood Study Panel Report.pdf)

The Corangamite Catchment Management Authority is a direct cross-agency participant because it joined the Panel in support of the amendment. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6) Emergency Management Victoria is relevant because it managed the grant program that funded the Study. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6) The Australian Government and Victorian Government are relevant because the Study funding was provided under the National Partnership Agreement for Disaster Risk Reduction. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, p.6)

Gaps in This Analysis

The largest gap is technical: the extracted text for the 2023 authorisation attachments, the April 2025 amendment attachment, and the September 2025 Panel attachment contains page headers and page markers rather than readable body text. (Source: 8.4.1 - Authorisation of Planning Scheme Amendment C104 - Tessdale Flood Study.pdf) (Source: 8.4.2 - Authorisation of Planning Scheme Amendment C104 - Tessdale Flood Study-2.pdf) (Source: Item 7.1 Planning Scheme Amendment C104gpla Teesdale Flood Study 5.pdf) (Source: Item 7.1 Attachments - Planning Scheme Amendment C104gpla - Teesdale Flood Study Panel Report.pdf)

Because those documents are not machine-readable in the supplied extracted text, this page cannot quantify the number of hectares added to FO or LSIO, the number of properties newly affected compared with existing controls, the modelled flood depths or velocities, the design event used for each overlay, the climate-change uplift, or the Panel’s site-specific findings. (Source: Item 7.1 Attachments - Planning Scheme Amendment C104gpla - Teesdale Flood Study Panel Report.pdf) (Source: Item 7.1 Planning Scheme Amendment C104gpla Teesdale Flood Study 5.pdf)

A complete analysis requires readable versions of the Teesdale Flood Risk Identification Study, the exhibited amendment maps, the explanatory report, the Panel Report, and any post-September 2025 approval or gazettal notice. (Source: Final Council Meeting Agenda 23.09.2025.pdf, pp.6-8)

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