After an extensive program of community consultation the Nillumbik Council has produced a draft replacement green wedge management plan (GWMP) for the Shire. Serious reservations have been expressed about this document, notably that
- it doesn’t actually reflect the community’s views;
- much of it is non-specific and not actionable;
- it contains proposals which betray our ‘Green Wedge Shire’.
“The Shire of Nillumbik was formed in 1994 with the conservation
of the green wedge as its strategic focus. The Nillumbik Green Wedge is
distinguished from others by the quality of its environment and natural
bushland. Above all it is the environmental qualities – the topography,
the dense bushland and isolated spaces, the rivers and streams – and
the diverse townships that create a sense of place and continue to draw
people to settle in Nillumbik.”
(Page 6, Current GWMP, planned to run till 2025)
The draft plan appears to reject this strategic focus, creating a new
one in which conservation takes a back seat to a ‘diverse community,
living in the landscape to enhance the environmental, social and
economic sustainability of the Shire’.
Whereas the current plan contains specific actions in support of
conservation, this draft plan threatens to increase population density
in our green wedge, water down the zoning and in other ways reduce
environmental protection.
This could be seen as surprising, given that the draft’s preparation
follows an extensive program of community consultation which
emphatically endorsed conservation as the key principle. It is as though
the consultation program was conducted to justify this ‘living in the
landscape’ idea, on the basis that no-one likes regulations, and when
the program failed to do this it was ignored. In other words, the
consultation program appears not to have been conducted in good faith.
But this consultation process is not yet complete: the draft is open for comment until Sunday, 11th August. If you live in Nillumbik you must have your say.
A convenient way to have your say is by using the website loveyourgreenwedge.com.
This site simplifies the emailing of a brief comment to Council, but
more importantly, it provides guidance in responding on the Council’s
feedback form. The Council’s form enables you to rate your approval of a
range of statements, but also to make comments. The comments are
important, and the loveyourgreenwedge folk have created useful
information as a guide.
Otherwise, the draft GWMP is is here, and you can go directly to the Council’s Feedback – Draft Green Wedge Management Plan.