The state government is investigating a regional council’s decision to grant a contentious planning permit to build 16 townhouses on an Echuca site that was swamped by muddy floodwaters just over a year ago.
Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny has asked her department to examine the circumstances of Campaspe Shire Council approving the development at 166 Bowen Street. She also said she would consider overhauling the council’s planning scheme.
Developer Denham Design has been given the greenlight to build 16 townhouses at 166 Bowen Street, Echuca (rear), which was flooded late last year.Credit: Chris Janson
The block, which is just over a hectare, sold for $713,000 in 2021 and is the future home of a $4.7 million development metres from the Banyula State Forest, which hugs the Murray River on the border with NSW.
North Central Catchment Management Authority, the water authority responsible for floodplain management in the area, says the development is inappropriate and likely to disperse floodwaters onto neighbouring properties when the site next floods.
In a submission to Campaspe Council, Nick Butler, the authority’s waterways and floodplain officer, said it “strongly contends that the proposed development is inappropriate given the significant flood hazard on the property”.
“It is likely to result in danger to the life, health and safety of the occupants due to flooding on the site,” Butler wrote.
He said the development was also likely to raise flood levels or the speed of water flows, “to the detriment of other properties”.
The development was given conditional approval by council officers, who placed several flood mitigation conditions on the project.
A group of residents and the North Central Catchment Management Authority appealed the decision at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, but VCAT ruled in July that the council was not required to take objections from residents and the water authority into account.
Campaspe Shire Council approved the plans in September.
Flooding brought Echuca to a halt in 2022.Credit: Steve Huntley/Riverine Herald
The Insurance Council of Australia also wrote to the council, urging it to reconsider its decision to approve the development.
It said flooding in Victoria, NSW and Tasmania in October 2022 had caused insured losses of $736 million, with 22,151 claims lodged.
“The Insurance Council of Australia has long advocated for changes to planning rules, so no more homes are built in high-risk flood-prone locations and has urged Campaspe Shire Council to reconsider this decision,” a spokesman said.
Murray Plains MP Peter Walsh said it was disappointing that the original planning application was not referred to councillors for a decision but was instead approved by council officers acting under delegation.
“The planning rules do need to change, so we don’t see developments being done in areas that will flood,” he said. “We saw the devastation of the floods in 2022, and we don’t want people being subjected to that sort of trauma in new developments.”
Campaspe sustainability director Michael Sharp said there were now no further mechanisms available to the council to review the decision.
“Importantly, the decision of [VCAT] confirmed that the decisions of council were totally compliant with the provisions of the Campaspe planning scheme,” he said.
“Council notes the advice that the minister has asked her department to review the circumstances surrounding issue of the permit and will work with the Department of Transport and Planning to implement changes to the Campaspe planning scheme to enhance the consideration of the risk of flooding in assessment of planning permit applications.”
North Central Catchment Management Authority floodplain manager Camille White said the authority welcomed the opportunity to strengthen Campaspe’s planning rules to ensure flood risks were considered in all new developments.
“North Central CMA maintains its concern that the proposed development will put residents at risk from flooding, which it directly expressed to council when it recommended that the planning permit be refused,” she said.
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2023-12-23 08:00:00Z
CBMikgFodHRwczovL3d3dy50aGVhZ2UuY29tLmF1L25hdGlvbmFsL3ZpY3RvcmlhL3Blcm1pdC1mb3ItNC03bS10b3duaG91c2UtcHJvamVjdC1saWtlbHktdG8tZmxvb2QtbmVpZ2hib3Vycy1jb21lcy11bmRlci1zY3J1dGlueS0yMDIzMTIyMC1wNWVzcGIuaHRtbNIBkgFodHRwczovL2FtcC50aGVhZ2UuY29tLmF1L25hdGlvbmFsL3ZpY3RvcmlhL3Blcm1pdC1mb3ItNC03bS10b3duaG91c2UtcHJvamVjdC1saWtlbHktdG8tZmxvb2QtbmVpZ2hib3Vycy1jb21lcy11bmRlci1zY3J1dGlueS0yMDIzMTIyMC1wNWVzcGIuaHRtbA
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