Grange Planning Brain

title: Amendment GC28 - Donnybrook-Woodstock Precinct Structure Plan council: mitchell state: vic category: amendment classification: MAJOR status: approved last_compiled: 2026-05-31 source_docs:

  • Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf
  • Appendix-1-PSP1067-96-Donnybrook-Woodstock-Amendment-GC28-Panel-Part-A-Unresolved-Submissions-29-April-2016-PDF.pdf
  • Part-A-submission-GC28-Donnybrook-Woodstock-PSP-MPA-29-April-2016.pdf
  • PSP-1067-1096-Donnybrook-Woodstock-Part-B-submission-GC28-Appendix-2-Unresolved-Submissions-13-May-2016.pdf
  • GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf

Amendment GC28 - Donnybrook-Woodstock Precinct Structure Plan

Amendment GC28 converted a cross-boundary rural growth corridor precinct into a planned urban precinct across Whittlesea and Mitchell, with the Mitchell component north of Merri Creek and the wider PSP centred on Donnybrook Road, Merriang Road, the Melbourne-Sydney railway, Darebin Creek and Merri Creek (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, p.7). The planning effect is large because the approved PSP applies to 1,785.94 hectares, identifies 1,032.78 hectares of net developable residential area, and plans for 17,041 dwellings and 47,715 residents at 2.8 persons per dwelling (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.15). The main implementation risk is not whether urban development is intended, because the PSP and UGZ framework settle that question, but whether transport, drainage, conservation, education, gas-pipeline safety and infrastructure funding are delivered in the right sequence (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.43-45; Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, pp.55-65).

Background

The Donnybrook-Woodstock PSP was prepared by the Victorian Planning Authority with Whittlesea City Council, Mitchell Shire, government agencies, service authorities and major stakeholders (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.5). The PSP sits within the Growth Corridor Plans, the Biodiversity Conservation Strategy for Melbourne’s Growth Areas, the Sub Regional Species Strategies, local planning policy in the Whittlesea and Mitchell Planning Schemes, and the Precinct Structure Planning Guidelines (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.5). The PSP also relies on the Commonwealth EPBC Act approval for urban development in the expanded Melbourne 2010 Urban Growth Boundary, which has effect until 31 December 2060 if approval conditions are satisfied (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.5).

The amendment process included agency consultation ending on 29 September 2014, background-report consultation ending on 3 October 2014, formal exhibition commencing on 19 November 2015, formal exhibition closing on 21 December 2015, and a 13-day Panel hearing from 16 May to 20 June 2016 (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, p.20). Thirty-four submissions were received during formal exhibition, including late submissions, and the Panel recorded that significant agreement had been reached with many landowners by the time of its report (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.7,20). The approved incorporated PSP is dated October 2017 and the source document is identified as an approval-gazetted incorporated document (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf).

Analysis

Land Supply, Yield and Urban Structure

The approved land budget is the clearest measure of the amendment’s planning consequence because it shows that only 1,032.78 hectares of the 1,785.94 hectare precinct is counted as residential NDA, meaning 753.16 hectares, or about 42.2 percent of the gross precinct, is allocated to transport, schools, community facilities, conservation, drainage, utilities, credited open space, Hayes Hill Reserve and other non-residential categories (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.15). The PSP therefore does not simply rezone land for housing; it reallocates a very large growth-area landscape into a mixed system of housing land, movement corridors, public land and environmental land (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.15).

Residential yield is stated as 17,041 dwellings across 1,032.78 hectares of residential NDA, which produces the PSP average of 16.5 dwellings per net developable hectare (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.15). The Panel’s earlier estimate was broader, at 16,000 to 18,000 dwellings and 45,000 to 50,000 people, so the final PSP landed near the middle of the dwelling range and near the middle of the population range (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, p.7; Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.15). The residential density mechanism is uneven rather than uniform, because the PSP requires higher densities near town centres and public transport, including 25 dwellings per net developable hectare within 500 metres and 18 dwellings per net developable hectare between 500 and 800 metres in specified catchments (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, pp.20-21).

The gross-to-net reduction is driven most heavily by open space and conservation, with total open space of 579.88 hectares and conservation reserve alone accounting for 372.82 hectares, or 20.88 percent of the total precinct area (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.15). This means the PSP’s housing capacity is structurally dependent on the boundaries and management of conservation reserves, especially Conservation Areas 22, 25 and 34, rather than only on conventional subdivision design (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.101-105; Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, pp.37-40,64). The Panel recognised this mechanism when it considered whether land released from Conservation Area 22 could be developed without major PSP redesign, but it also recorded that any boundary change required DELWP and Commonwealth Minister processes rather than Panel determination (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.101-105).

Centres, Employment and Daily Services

The centres hierarchy is deliberately distributed across the precinct rather than concentrated at a single centre, with five local town centres and five local convenience centres identified in the approved PSP (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, pp.23-24). The hierarchy is anchored by the external Lockerbie Principal Town Centre, which is planned for 80,000 square metres of retail floor space and 40,000 to 50,000 square metres of commercial floor space outside this PSP area (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.23). Within the precinct, Koukoura Drive LTC1 is the largest local town centre at 8 hectares, 21,500 square metres of retail floor space and 6,200 square metres of commercial floor space (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.23). Patterson Drive LTC2 is planned at 4 hectares with 10,000 square metres of retail floor space and 5,500 square metres of commercial floor space (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.23). Donnybrook Station LTC5 is smaller in gross land area at 1 hectare but has a strategic transport role because it is located next to the existing Donnybrook railway station and is planned for higher-density residential and mixed-use development linked to future station and service upgrades (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.23).

The employment estimate is modest relative to the population scale, with 2,143 estimated jobs against 47,715 residents (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, pp.15,25). Home-based business is the largest single employment category in the PSP estimate, at 852 jobs, followed by town centres at 540 jobs, government primary schools at 200 jobs, non-government secondary schools at 200 jobs, government secondary schools at 180 jobs, non-government primary schools at 90 jobs, council community facilities at 66 jobs and private child care at 15 jobs (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.25). The planning implication is that the PSP provides local service employment and education employment, but it remains reliant on nearby and regional employment locations, including the planned Beveridge Interstate Freight Terminal and the wider northern growth corridor employment network (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.25-26; Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.10).

Retail provision was contested because submissions questioned the scale and distribution of local retail floor space, including the role of Koukoura Drive LTC1, the relationship with the Lockerbie Principal Town Centre, and the floor-space assumptions derived from Essential Economics work (Source: PSP-1067-1096-Donnybrook-Woodstock-Part-B-submission-GC28-Appendix-2-Unresolved-Submissions-13-May-2016.pdf). The unresolved-submissions material records that the retail analysis considered two scenarios, one supporting approximately 33,000 square metres of retail floor space and another supporting approximately 45,000 square metres, based on different assumptions about the share of local retail spending captured within the precinct (Source: PSP-1067-1096-Donnybrook-Woodstock-Part-B-submission-GC28-Appendix-2-Unresolved-Submissions-13-May-2016.pdf). The Panel responded by recommending replacement versions of the local town centre and convenience centre hierarchy tables, which means the final approved tables should be read as a post-hearing calibration of centre roles rather than a simple exhibition position (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.8-10; Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, pp.23-24).

Infrastructure Funding and Staging

Infrastructure funding was the central unresolved mechanism at Panel stage because the amendment applied DCPO schedules but the detailed ICP or DCP was not yet available for scrutiny (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.43-45). Whittlesea and Mitchell both raised concern that the PSP should not be finalised before the infrastructure contributions mechanism was prepared, and Mitchell specifically raised the risk that a funding shortfall could affect infrastructure for which Council would be delivery agency (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.43-45). The Panel agreed that it was appropriate to apply a DCPO before a full schedule of costs, but concluded that approval should be delayed until State infrastructure contributions reform was complete and an ICP had been prepared (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.43-45).

The approved PSP subsequently states that development proponents are bound by the Donnybrook-Woodstock ICP and that the ICP sets out infrastructure funding requirements for the precinct (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.6). The source set supplied for this page does not include the ICP instrument or levy schedule, so this analysis can identify funded categories and delivery responsibilities but cannot quantify the per-hectare or per-lot contribution burden (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, pp.6,55-65). This is an important analytical gap because the Panel treated funding certainty as a precondition for approval, and the approved PSP relies on the ICP as the financial mechanism for multiple roads, community facilities, parks and shared infrastructure (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.43-45; Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, pp.55-65).

Staging is framed as infrastructure-led rather than purely landowner-led because the approved PSP requires timely provision of arterial road reservations, connector streets, connector street bridges, inter-property street links and pedestrian and bicycle connections (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.65). The PSP also states that staging will be determined largely by development proposals and the availability of infrastructure services, with encouragement for development near an existing train station or committed community infrastructure such as schools (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.65). The practical effect is that land may be urban-zoned but still sequence-constrained by road access, drainage acceptance, service authority works and delivery of local public facilities (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, pp.55-65).

Transport and Movement

The transport program relies on both interim and ultimate road responsibilities, with VicRoads generally responsible for ultimate arterial upgrades and councils responsible for some interim works included in the ICP (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.55). Donnybrook Road from the Melbourne-Sydney railway line to Merriang Road is identified for a 41 metre road reserve and ultimate six-lane carriageway, but it is not included in the ICP and is assigned to VicRoads with long timing (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.55). Cameron Street, Gunns Gully Road and Patterson Drive contain interim two-lane carriageway components that are identified as ICP-included in the PSP infrastructure table, while their ultimate four-lane or six-lane treatments are assigned to VicRoads and not included in the ICP (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.55).

The Monteleone Way dispute shows the funding mechanism in plain terms because the landowner sought ICP funding for a north-south road that would carry significant traffic, while the Panel found that the road remained a connector road and should not be funded as a special case (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.124-127). Traffic evidence for the Monteleone family referred to up to 9,100 vehicles per day at the northern end of the road and argued that the road would carry arterial-level traffic, but other evidence found the road did not perform a strategic arterial function and could be accommodated as a connector street (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.124-127). The Panel concluded that there was no justification to reclassify the road or to fund it through the ICP while retaining connector-road status, because doing so would undermine equal treatment of other connector roads (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.126-127).

The intersection-treatment issue also shows a deferred design risk because the Panel had before it a list of infrastructure items and locations, but not detailed intersection designs, costings or an exhibited contributions plan (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.128-132). VicRoads supported ICP-funded intersections using standard templates and expressed a preference for interim-on-ultimate arterial-road intersections, while also accepting that case-by-case circumstances may require practical staged or traditional interim layouts (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.128-132). This means the PSP locks in the movement network, but detailed intersection geometry and cost allocation remain implementation questions with direct consequences for timing, land take and public works delivery (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.128-132; Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.55).

Drainage, Waterways and Integrated Water Management

The approved PSP identifies 19 stormwater drainage and water-treatment assets in Table 8, including retarding basins, wetlands and sediment basins across Melbourne Water and council responsibility (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.54). The listed assets include RBWL-1 at 7.00 hectares, RBWL-2a at 2.93 hectares, RBWL-8 at 5.62 hectares, RBWL-9 at 3.95 hectares, RBWL-11 at 5.47 hectares, RBWL-12 at 2.55 hectares, WL-1 at 1.70 hectares and multiple smaller wetlands and basins (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.54). The table also states that drainage areas remain subject to change during functional and detailed design to the satisfaction of Melbourne Water and the responsible authority, which means the land budget has a residual design-confirmation dependency (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.54).

Drainage was a major contested issue at Panel stage because the exhibited PSP relied on an earlier Lockerbie East Development Services Scheme that was superseded during the hearing (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.106-123). The Panel recommended further work on the Lockerbie East DSS, including removal of Catchment 5 from the DSS, investigation of whether several pipes and a short open channel could be rationalised, and determination of PSP changes needed to include a 1.7 hectare wetland drainage reserve in Catchment 5 (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.106-110). The Panel also recommended that Melbourne Water meet the cost of constructing the western section of channel CH1 where it deviated from the natural floodway, and that the Monteleone family be compensated for land required for that deviating section (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.106-118).

The final PSP reflects part of that evolution because RBWL-2a is listed as 2.93 hectares on Parcels 17 and 19 and RBWL-4 is listed as 0.76 hectares on Parcel 19, while the Panel report recorded that the revised DSS reduced RBWL2 from 7.2 hectares to 2.9 hectares and added RBWL4 (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.121-123; Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.54). The planning mechanism is therefore direct: drainage design changes alter parcel-level developable area, and the responsible authority must treat drainage land take as both a flood-management requirement and a land-budget/yield variable (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.106-123; Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.54).

Conservation, Biodiversity and Open Space

The approved PSP identifies conservation reserves of 372.82 hectares and total open space of 579.88 hectares, so conservation and open-space decisions account for the largest single non-residential land allocation in the precinct (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.15). The Panel described a conservation network of approximately 394 hectares under the Biodiversity Conservation Strategy, including Nature Conservation, Growling Grass Frog habitat and Open Space categories (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, p.7). The approved PSP lists Conservation Area 22 and 34 North, Conservation Area 34 South and Conservation Area 25 South in the infrastructure plan, with DELWP as lead agency and no ICP inclusion (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.64).

Conservation Area 22 was the main boundary-contest issue because Boral and the Mason family sought DELWP review of areas included under the BCS (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.101-105). For Boral land at 1195 Merriang Road, the Panel recorded that a possible boundary change could equate to 11.1 hectares of additional developable land, or around 1 percent of the total PSP area, if Commonwealth approval were obtained (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, p.102). For the Mason land at 1235 Merriang Road, the Panel recorded that 84 hectares had been included in Conservation Area 22, while the owner’s consultant recommended a 22.5 hectare southern Nature Conservation Reserve plus two further reserves of 10.8 hectares and 9.2 hectares (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.102-103). The Panel concluded that land potentially released from Conservation Area 22 could be capable of development subject to design responses retaining worthy River Red Gums, but it could not decide the conservation boundary because that sat with DELWP and the relevant Federal Minister (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.103-105).

The unresolved-submissions tables show that conservation concerns were not only landowner issues, because Friends of Merri Creek sought integrated management of adjoining conservation areas, protection of Merri Creek corridor values, and stronger landscape-scale habitat links (Source: PSP-1067-1096-Donnybrook-Woodstock-Part-B-submission-GC28-Appendix-2-Unresolved-Submissions-13-May-2016.pdf). The same unresolved-submissions material records concern that Conservation Area 22 boundary review could reduce protected land, while the MPA response stated that BCS open-space conservation review was being undertaken by DELWP and that changes required approval before PSP adoption (Source: PSP-1067-1096-Donnybrook-Woodstock-Part-B-submission-GC28-Appendix-2-Unresolved-Submissions-13-May-2016.pdf). The practical effect is that biodiversity governance is split: the PSP maps and implements conservation outcomes, but boundary changes and some protection obligations are controlled through state and Commonwealth biodiversity processes (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.101-105; Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.5).

Education, Community Facilities and School-Site Flexibility

The approved land budget allocates 32.34 hectares to future government schools, 20.47 hectares to potential non-government schools and 6.40 hectares to local community facilities, for a combined 59.21 hectares of community and education land (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.15). The centres hierarchy deliberately co-locates schools, community facilities, sports reserves and parks with local town centres and convenience centres, including Koukoura Drive, Patterson Drive, Lockerbie East, Darebin Creek and Donnybrook Farmhouse (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, pp.23-24). This co-location mechanism is important because it ties walkability, centre activity, public transport demand and community-service delivery to the same neighbourhood nodes (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, pp.20-27).

The main education dispute was whether non-government school sites should be identified specifically as Catholic schools rather than as non-specific potential non-government schools (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.77-79). The MPA acknowledged Catholic Education Melbourne’s strategic work and the role of Catholic schools, but opposed locking private land to a specified provider because non-government schools do not have compulsory-acquisition powers and because a specified provider may not ultimately purchase the land (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.77-79). The Panel concluded that there should be no change to the designation of non-government schools, while also endorsing the broader concern that more certainty was needed where Catholic Education Melbourne participates in PSP planning (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.78-79).

A related issue was what should happen if designated school land is not required for education purposes (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.80-84). The Panel considered whether flexibility applying to non-government school sites should extend to government school sites, because otherwise land could be sterilised if no education provider acquired it (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.80-84). This issue matters at implementation because school land is excluded from NDA in the land budget, and any later conversion to residential or another urban use affects yield, contributions and local facility planning (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.15; Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.80-84).

Gas Pipeline Safety and Statutory Controls

APA gas transmission pipelines run through the precinct, and the Panel treated pipeline safety as a planning-control issue rather than only an engineering matter (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.85-100). APA sought permit and referral controls for sensitive uses within pipeline measurement lengths, including uses such as child care, education, hospital, aged care, service station, cinema-based entertainment, and accommodation other than a single dwelling on a lot (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, p.85). The Panel report records two measurement lengths: 341 metres either side of the 300 millimetre Keon Park to Wodonga pipeline and 590 metres either side of the 400 millimetre Wollert to Broadford pipeline (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, p.87).

The Panel did not accept a broad referral-authority model for APA, but it did support a notice mechanism for specified applications within the gas pipeline measurement length (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.85-90). The recommended notice provision applied to applications on land shown as gas pipeline measurement length where the application was for uses or buildings accommodating accommodation, aged care facility, child care centre, cinema-based entertainment facility, education centre, hospital, place of assembly or retail premises (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.87-90). The planning effect is that subdivision and land use near the pipeline are not prohibited, but higher-sensitivity uses trigger a procedural safety interface with the pipeline licensee (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.85-90).

Heritage, Dry Stone Walls and Local Character

Heritage controls were contested because the amendment proposed Heritage Overlay protection for properties including 975 Donnybrook Road and 1145 Donnybrook Road (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.49-52). The Panel found that 975 Donnybrook Road had archaeological potential and could be placed on the Victorian Heritage Inventory, but it did not support applying the Heritage Overlay because the Context assessment did not establish local heritage significance or include a Statement of Significance for that site (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.49-52). The Panel supported the Heritage Overlay for 1145 Donnybrook Road because a Statement of Significance had been prepared and no opposing submission was made (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.49-52).

Dry stone walls were treated differently from built heritage places because the Panel recommended mapping walls identified by the Post Contact Heritage Assessments as Very High, High, Moderate-High and Moderate value on the PSP character and housing plan (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.46-49). The unresolved-submissions tables also show that submitters raised concerns about local parks, tree retention, stony rises, view lines and post-contact heritage features at parcel scale, which means the heritage and character system operates through both overlays and PSP design requirements (Source: Appendix-1-PSP1067-96-Donnybrook-Woodstock-Amendment-GC28-Panel-Part-A-Unresolved-Submissions-29-April-2016-PDF.pdf; Source: PSP-1067-1096-Donnybrook-Woodstock-Part-B-submission-GC28-Appendix-2-Unresolved-Submissions-13-May-2016.pdf). The practical implication is that not every heritage or character element becomes a statutory overlay, but many still influence subdivision layout, open-space siting and permit assessment (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.46-52; Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, pp.17-21).

Current Status

The page source set includes an October 2017 approval-gazetted incorporated PSP, so the amendment should be treated as approved for this compilation (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf). The 2016 Panel report recommended delaying approval until the State infrastructure contributions reform process was completed and an ICP had been prepared, and the approved PSP later states that proponents are bound by the Donnybrook-Woodstock ICP (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, p.45; Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.6). The Mitchell planning-schemes amendment page supplied in the corpus was not usable for status confirmation because the captured text only records that the portal requires JavaScript (Source: GC28?schemeCode=mith).

Dependencies

  • Blocks: The PSP blocks ad hoc subdivision that does not implement the approved land-use budget, road hierarchy, centre hierarchy, open-space network, conservation areas, drainage assets and staging requirements (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, pp.6,15,23-27,37-65).
  • Blocked by: Individual stages can be blocked or delayed by the availability of infrastructure services, delivery of arterial and connector road links, Melbourne Water drainage acceptance, gas-pipeline safety notice processes, and conservation-area approval requirements (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, pp.54-65; Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.85-105).
  • Informed by: The PSP was informed by the Growth Corridor Plans, the Biodiversity Conservation Strategy, Sub Regional Species Strategies, the Whittlesea and Mitchell planning schemes, and background reports including heritage, traffic, retail, drainage and conservation material considered through the Panel process (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.5; Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.64-145).
  • Implements: The amendment implements urban growth corridor planning by applying the PSP through the Urban Growth Zone framework across Whittlesea and Mitchell (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.14-19; Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, pp.5-6).
  • Conflicts with: The main tensions are between development land and BCS conservation boundaries, between connector-road classification and landowner funding expectations, between local service provision and school-provider certainty, and between urban intensification near centres and high-pressure gas-pipeline safety management (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.77-90,101-127).

The amendment is inherently cross-jurisdictional because the precinct sits mostly in Whittlesea but includes land north of Merri Creek in Mitchell Shire (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, p.7). The PSP also links to the adjacent Lockerbie precinct because the Lockerbie Principal Town Centre is external to this PSP but forms the regional retail and service anchor in the approved centres hierarchy (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.23). The PSP also links to the Lockerbie DCP and English Street DCP because the incorporated PSP states that the Lockerbie DCP shares an infrastructure project with the Donnybrook-Woodstock ICP and that the English Street DCP makes a contribution to the Donnybrook-Woodstock ICP (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.6).

Service and agency dependencies cross council boundaries because Melbourne Water DSS assets, VicRoads arterial responsibilities, DELWP conservation responsibilities, Public Transport Victoria rail and bus interfaces, and APA pipeline safety processes all sit outside a single council’s direct control (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.85-132; Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, pp.54-65). The existing Donnybrook station and future station-related centres also connect the PSP to the Melbourne-Sydney railway corridor and regional public transport service planning (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, p.7; Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, pp.23-24).

Gaps in This Analysis

The supplied source set does not include the Donnybrook-Woodstock Infrastructure Contributions Plan itself, even though the approved PSP states that proponents are bound by the ICP and the Panel treated ICP preparation as a precondition for approval (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, p.6; Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, pp.43-45). This prevents calculation of contribution rates per hectare of NDA, per dwelling, per infrastructure category and per delivery agency (Source: GC28IncorpDoc-Donnybrook-WoodstockPrecinctStructurePlanOctober2017ApprovalGazetted.pdf, pp.55-65). The supplied source set also does not include the full background technical reports named or relied upon in the Panel process, including the full transport assessment, retail economics report, heritage reports, ecological reports, service authority reports and Melbourne Water DSS technical material (Source: Mitchell-and-Whittlesea-GC28-Panel-Report.pdf, Appendix C). The captured Mitchell planning-scheme amendment page is not analytically useful because it only records a JavaScript portal message, so gazettal and current ordinance status should be verified against the live planning scheme or gazette in a later gap-fill pass (Source: GC28?schemeCode=mith).

Graph View