Council ‘orders’ changes

John Van Klaveren
A QUEENSCLIFF property owner has been ordered to move a planned building so it avoids flooding from climate change, according to Mayor Bob Merriman.
Cr Merriman said council approved a planning permit application after the owner shifted the proposed building off part of a double-allotment judged at risk of rising sea levels.
The application was for an additional building on the residential-zoned site.
The Independent revealed last year that Borough of Queenscliffe had adopted new planning rules that could prohibit or force changes to planned building in areas of the municipality deemed at risk of flooding.
The rules were based on a Corangamite Catchment Management Authority Map showing borough areas that would suffer flooding from a predicted .8-metre rise in sea levels.
The at-risk zones included hundreds of residential properties, sparking concerns for property prices.
Cr Merriman said council had referred the double-allotment application to the catchment authority in accordance with the new sea levels policy.
State Government’s Department of Sustainability and Environment and Premier and Cabinet were also consulted on the application.
Cr Merriman said the applicant had complied with the catchment authority’s “required” changes to the building plans.
The allotment included the authority’s three levels of high, medium and low risk of flooding from rising seas, he said.
“The redesign ensured the high-risk area was protected.”
Cr Merriman said the borough recently heard it could draw from a $13.4 million fund to deal with the threat of rising seas.
Council was not indemnified against “contemporary planning decisions” if property owners challenged them in the future, he said.
“We have been working with various authorities to look at the effect of the predicted sea level rise. We wanted to make sure the process we are following is correct and would assist us should anyone take action,” Cr Merriman said.
“It’s in the interests of our ratepayers and also protecting our insurance standing.”
Cr Merriman said the borough had formed a reference group of builders, architects, real estate agents, home owners and developers to consider a range of sea level rise issues and to draw up a “firm set” of guidelines.