Project Update: City of Moreland has submitted the Moreland Amendment C189 package to the Minister for Planning on 25 June 2020, recommending Amendment C189 to be gazetted. A Ministerial decision is expected in late 2020 / early 2021.
City of Moreland plans to introduce a new requirement to include increasing tree canopy cover in new development within its municipal area – Moreland Amendment C189. This amendment was recently placed on exhibition, with public comment sought by Friday 20 December 2019.
Moreland City Council proposes to implement this requirement through Amendment C189 to the Moreland Planning Scheme, which intends to implement the vision and actions of the Moreland Urban Forest Strategy (PDF 9Mb), Moreland Urban Heat Island Action Plan (DOC 48Mb) and Medium Density Housing Review (PDF 30Mb) that recommend increasing tree canopy cover in new development to improve the quality of new dwellings to benefit those who live within them as well as the broader Moreland community.
Moreland Amendment C189 affects all residential properties zoned Neighbourhood Residential Zone, General Residential Zone, Residential Growth Zone and Mixed Use Zone. It proposes to introduce new landscaping requirements in the Moreland Planning Scheme that will:
- Ensure canopy trees are included in the design of new dwellings
- Ensure there is enough space for new canopy trees to be able to grow
- Provide greater clarity to applicants and property owners when designing development with multiple dwellings
Moreland City Council claims that its analysis has found that the proposed requirements will not impact the ability to build on your property, including building more than one house. We considered this is a good initiative, as improved landscaping provision in new development will be more climate responsive and improve liability of community. However, these additional landscaping requirements have surely increased the design complexity.
Under Moreland Amendment C189, a new two-townhouse development must accommodate a minimum of 3-4 canopy trees depending on the design, including one tree located in the backyards of each new home and one or two trees located at the front yard. Each tree ususally occupies an area (4.5m by 4.5m).
For more information, please contact Hong Knowling on 0434 147 607.