Presenter Details

Name: Marc SalverPosition Title: Director Planning & Development ServicesCouncil: Adelaide Hills Council, South AustraliaNumber of Years with current Council: Over 6 years

Brief Pen PortraitMarc has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Urban Planning and a Diploma in Project Management and over 20 years of broad based international urban and regional planning experience gained from around the world, i.e., South Africa, Swaziland, England, Canada and Australia. His local government experience spans most of his career and he has worked in various urban planning and development roles at 5 local councils, namely Johannesburg City Council (South Africa), Mbabane City Council (Swaziland), Gloucester City Council (England), Municipal District of Rocky View, Calgary (Canada) and Adelaide Hills Council (Australia). Career highlights - as Director Planning & Community Services in Swaziland he had the responsibility of establishing the City’s first Planning Department to assist with the implementation of the World Bank’s Urban Development Project. In England he headed up a multi-disciplinary team responsible for the implementation of the Western Waterfront Urban regeneration project which sought to redevelop the Gloucester docklands with $1.1 billion of major projects. In Australia – as Director, he oversees the development assessment and long range planning functions of the Adelaide Hills Council which is considered to be the most complex planning environment to work in in the State.

Summary of Topics to be covered in two presentations:

1. New Ways of Conducting the Business of Planning: Adelaide Hills Council’s experience with Independent Development Assessment Panels

As part of the State’s planning reform agenda, the South Australian Government passed legislation in 2006 that required councils to have Development Assessment Panels comprised of a majority of independent members. Such panels could either have 7 or 9 members (including elected members) and were to be in place by February 2007. The State Government’s aim is “…. to have the most competitive planning and development system in Australasia, while at the same time enhancing the outstanding lifestyle of our people and the sustainability of our state.” (Source: Department of Planning & Local Government Website).  There was strong opposition to this proposed reform by some councils who argued that the community would essentially be worse off as a result of having a majority of independent members on such panels. The view was that independent members would generally favour the developers at the expense of community aspirations. It is noted that in Adelaide Hills Council has had a very positive experience in having independent members on its Development Assessment Panel (DAP). Further, it was first Council in South Australia to have an equal number of independent and elected members on it’s DAP and proactively resolved to move down this path 14 months prior to the State Government’s requirement for councils to do so. Our Council has found that the independent and elected members complement one another, and on whole work well together. The presentation will detail the Adelaide Hills Council’s experience of having such a Panel comprised of independent and elected members and will share some of the lessons learned.

2. Responding to the Challenges of Sustainability & Climate Change: Planning for conflicting demands of urban housing in a sensitive environment - challenges of developing in the Adelaide Hills area

The Adelaide Hills Council (AHC) covers almost 800 square kilometres and is located immediately east of, and adjacent to, the metropolitan area of Adelaide. It is a peri urban area with a population of almost 40,000 people. The area is primarily rural in nature with much of the land under some form of primary production activity. The majority of our residents live within 50+ settlements and towns nestled in the scenic landscapes of the Adelaide Hills. Due to its proximity to the metropolitan area of Adelaide, the quality of rural living which it offers, and the relative ease of access to the City, there is pressure for further residential development within the Hills. However, it is an environmentally sensitive area for a number of reasons as identified below and climate change will have an impact on these aspects. These environmental factors also present significant development constraints which restrict future residential development from occurring outside of the established townships and urban areas. These constraints also add layers of complexity for the future planning and development of the area and which require careful consideration. These aspects are as follows:

1. Watershed Protection: The AHC is located within the Mt Lofty Ranges Watershed (MLRW), the water catchment area for metropolitan Adelaide, and which supplies an average 60% of the annual water needs of the 1.2 million inhabitants. 89% of the AHC area is covered by the Watershed which represents 43% of the total MLRW catchment area. Watershed protection is therefore a major planning consideration to ensure that no new development negatively impacts on either the quality and quantity of the water as water is the number 1 issue in our State.

2. Bushfire Prone Environment: The AHC is located within a high to extreme bushfire prone environment and therefore consideration of the siting, location and intensity of development in order to mitigate the impacts of the bushfire threat is paramount. In essence, residential development is confined to the towns and urban areas which generally have a lower bushfire threat than the surrounding rural areas. It is important to ensure that no new development exposes residents to unnecessary risk from a bushfire attack point of view.

3. Native Vegetation & Biodiversity Conservation: AHC area has large expanses of native vegetation. Any new development needs to minimise the impact on such vegetation as there is generally only around 10% of remnant native vegetation left in the State. From a biodiversity conservation point of view and in order to minimise the impact of climate change, it is important to maintain the remnant native vegetation where possible. A further problem is mitigating the potential bushfire impacts (fuel loads) of such vegetation on residential development. Typically the Country Fire Service (CFS) requires vegetation modification for residential development and requires an asset protection zone of between 20 – 30 metres around habitable buildings. Therefore each new dwelling that is permitted in close proximity to native vegetation results in the removal of a considerable amount of vegetation. Note that the CFS may also direct the Council to refuse an application where the fire risk is considered extreme by the CFS, or require the dwelling to be built underground. The issue of maintaining native vegetation and biodiversity conservation is juxtaposed to the issue of bushfire mitigation and careful, consideration of these issues is required when permitting residential development in the Hills environment.

4. Topography: The AHC area is primarily undulating and hilly. Such terrain poses difficulties and results in development requiring associated excavation and filling of land. This is again a consideration in the planning and development process in order to mitigate the impact of such earthworks on the landscape. Associated with this is the requirement to provide suitable all weather access and turn around areas for CFS vehicles on the site. In some instances this is not achievable and applications may be refused as a result.

Further, the topography has an impact on bushfire behaviour and north-westerly slopes (i.e. the prevailing wind direction) are considered the most risky to build on.

5. Infrastructure constraints (sewer, water, stormwater, roads): The majority of the AHC area is not serviced with mains water, sewer or stormwater. The effect of this is that all these services need to be provided for on-site. A standard residence without access to mains water requires a rainwater tank of around 60,000 litres to make it through the summer. Further, on-site waste water systems can have a negative impact on the quality of water runoff within the MLRW if not monitored and managed properly. The associated Effluent Disposal Areas (EDA) need to be around 200 m2 in area and this in some instances results in further removal of native vegetation, and requires the excavation of benched areas on sloping sites. Management of the stormwater runoff requires detention and slow release systems to be installed in order to prevent localised flooding or erosion. Further, the capacity within existing infrastructure in the towns and urban areas to support future development needs is limited:

6. Primary Production: The majority of land in the Council area is under some form of primary production and consideration of the impacts of such activities on any proposed residential development has to be taken into consideration. Farming is a major part of the economic activity within the AHC area and prime agricultural land is to be protected for this purpose. Encroachment of rural living into agricultural areas results in land use conflicts (e.g. complaints about noise, spray drift and smells associated with farming) and any development proposal needs to consider these impacts. Lastly, retaining the food production of the Hills in close proximity to the City makes sense from a sustainability and climate change point of view (i.e. assists in reducing food miles).

It should also be pointed out that climate change and the associated extreme weather conditions will impact on the environment of the AHC area, for example:

o more extreme rainfall events will result in stormwater management issues, and more incidents of flooding in low lying areas.

o the number of high fire danger days will increase, exposing residents to increased bushfire risks.

o as a result of the increased frequency of extreme weather conditions, native trees will be further stressed and result in limb or total failure. This will pose risks to residents which will need to be carefully managed.

The presentation will cover the conflicting demands of urban housing in a sensitive environment and focus on the challenges of developing in the Adelaide Hills area and our planning response to managing these demands.