SAVE WILLIAMSTOWN

 
  1. Minister’s rezoning Documents

  2. Instruction C75, explanatory report, list of changes and maps

  3. click to download

  4. or visit this website DSE Planning Scheme Amendment Information


   





 


  1. Terms of Reference for the Minister’s Advisory Committee


  1. Correspondence to Save Williamstown from Planning Panels Victoria re submissions including Terms of Reference and Committee Members
    (pdf 3MB)

  2. Letter to Save Williamstown - Submissions to the Minister’s Advisory Committee

  3. on Former Port Phillip Woollen Mill Site

   

  



  1. Save Williamstown Community Leaflet  (pdf 471kb)

Leaflet to Distributed Households in Williamstown by Save Williamstown










  1. Link to documents on Planning Panels Victoria website
    This website includes information about NEW plans submitted by the developer after the opening of submissions. Unfortunately for the Community in trying to respond to what the developer is seeking, the plans are TOO large to be available for download on Planning Panels Victoria website.  Therefore community members must go to Council Offices or the Library to see the documents or ask for split documents by email (about 80MB) or a CD to be sent. Council has provided a website link to these document
    Council’s Website

  2. SAVE WILLIAMSTOWN HAS SEEN THE DOCUMENTS

  3. In summary, Nelson Place Village’s new proposal varies from the August 2009 proposal in a number of matters:

  4. DPO (Development Plan Overlay) requested when it should be a DDO (Design and Development Overlay)

  5. Height in the DPO is up to 47 metres from 46.5 metres

  6. Dwellings up to 456 (or 497 in Traffic Report) from 412 in Aug 09 plans ie over 10% increase

  7. Offices are now included in the ground floor of the townhouses

  8. Parking is still below the per bedroom standards applied by council and there is no visitor parking

  9. The corner of the site appears to be 3 metres above sea level from their documents

  10. The 300m arc from the Mobil Tanks is measured by the Developers from the middle of the tanks which is wrong.
    (This is noted in another submission by DIIRD (available to download) that the high rise buildings are within the safety zone and they do not support the development.)

  11. Private Open Space still appears not to be provided for the townhouses thus avoiding overshadowing criteria within the development

  12. Shadow diagrams have been redrawn and appear to be more accurate, one house in Cecil St which has Solar Panels looks as if is unacceptably overshadowed at the equinox for more than 5 hours but then over the 6 months of the winter solstice the impact on many houses in Cecil St will be detrimental

  13. Traffic counts have been taken this July during the day on a Thursday

  14. The Heritage Adviser Rayworth lists all the local Heritage Overlays and criteria but then says as the site is large the height and heritage limits should not apply - they are only intended for smaller house blocks.
    (Our summary of the Rayworth Report)



 

Background to Committee

On 1 April 2010 Hobsons Bay Planning Scheme Amendment C75 rezoning of the Former Port Phillip Woollen Mill Site to Residential 1 was gazetted by Minister Madden on the application of the developer.
On 27th July 2010 Submissions to the Minister’s Advisory Committee on development controls for the site opened - submissions closed on 27th August 2010. The Directions Hearing on13th September was adjourned until 10th November, followed a request by Save Williamstown and others. At the adjourned Directions Hearing, we were informed that the post election Minister is unlikely to make Ports and Environs (PEAC advice) decisions until at least January.  As the Port Phillip Woollen Mill Advisory Committee (PPWMAC) did not want to adjourn the Directions Hearing any further, they decided that the Public Hearings would be timetabled for February March 2011.


Save Williamstown had two requests at the adjourned Directions Hearing. Firstly the deferral of the Public Hearings until after the Minister’s decision on Ports and Environs which will hopefully be in January. 


The second request was denied by the committee. We asked for a Proper Risk Assessment of the safety buffer for Port Gellibrand Major Hazard Facility for fuel importation, transfer and storage.  Save Williamstown explained how after the explosion at Buncefield in 2005, credible risk had been rewritten according to the WorkSafe and the EPA as reported in the Mobil submission to PEAC and safety buffer distances were being reassessed. WorkSafe prepared a map with Pt Gellibrand buffer distances in September 2010.   The Stephens St Yarraville VCAT decision in 2010 references the Buncefield Explosion.  Added to this  there had been enormous explosions involving petrochemical tankers and fuel importation in recent years. 


The Proper Risk Assessment of Point Gellibrand needed to precede any Public Hearings of the PPWMAC.  The committee determined that as Save Williamstown had been writing to all the relevant “safety” authorities about the dangers associated with Fuel Importation, any responses received from these authorities should be part of the Save Williamstown presentation. Also several authorities involved in safety and emergency management had not been on the list of organisations invited to submit in the Terms of Reference.  We clarified with the committee whether any of these authorities, such as Emergency Services Commissioner, MFB, VicPolice, CFA, Australian Maritime Safety Authority could do formal submissions and be heard.  The committee agreed that they could make late submissions if required but none of them are timetabled to be heard.



The Timetable was set out in letter from the Advisory Committee to Submitters 17 November 2010



Save Williamstown was due to be heard on 1 March 2011.  By that stage the Developer Nelson Place Village would have been heard (14 to 21 February) and Hobsons Bay Council, Port of Melbourne, Mobil, BAE Systems and Worksafe would have completed their appearances by 28 February.  Authorities who were invited to submit in the Terms of Reference but are not listed to be heard are EPA, DIIRD, DSI, Dept of Transport, Parks Victoria, VicRoads and the Government Architect. 


SAFETY ISSUES SHOULD PRECEDE ANY PLANNING ISSUES


Save Williamstown believes that it would be highly inappropriate that a community group be responsible for the submission of Risk Assessment.  The analysis would need to include many existing dwellings and 1500 workers plus any tourists in the vicinity.  Save Williamstown was not funded to do such work and did not have the authority to require answers from the relevant authorities. We would be seeking full clarification from the committee about what we believed should be a government commitment to do the right thing for Williamstown.


SUBMISSIONS

Can be viewed on the Planning Panels Victoria website


http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/planning/panelsandcommittees/current-planning-panels-and-committees/former-port-phillip-woollen-mill-advisory-committee/woollen-mills-submissions


Urbis on behalf of the Developer (Evolve) has submitted a new set of plans increasing the dwellings by 10% and the height to 50m see:

  1. Nelson Place Village Submission Part 1,

  2. Nelson Place Village Submission Part 2 has to be viewed at the library or you can request a CD or email copy.  NB Hobsons Bay Council has recently provided a download at Council’s Website


Government entity submissions have been received from:

  1. Port of Melbourne,

  2. EPA,

  3. Worksafe and

  4. Department of Transport (Freight Logistics Marine)

  5. Department of Transport (Public Transport)

  6. All except the Public Transport Submission refer to Residential zoning being inappropriate within the 300m buffer zone of the Mobil leased land.


Business Submissions have been received from the owners of

  1. BAE Systems

  2. Mobil

  3. Titanic Theatre Restaurant (KAS Productions) and

  4. Businesses 15-21; 23; 25; 27 Aitken St (represented jointly by Andrew Gray ARG Planning)


Group submissions have been received from

  1. Wade Noonan MLA Williamstown, Joan Kirner AM (Former Premier) and Shelley Penn

  2. The National Trust

  3. Save Williamstown Click to view the Save Williamstown submission

  4. http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/57572/083_Save_Williamstown-Part-1.pdf

  5. http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/57574/083_Save_Williamstown-Part-2.pdf

  6. http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/57578/083_Save_Williamstown-Part-3.pdf


  7. Williamstown Newport Spotswood Residents Association

  8. Preserve Old Williamstown

  9. Williamstown Historical Society

  10. Point Gellibrand Park Association

  11. Residents of Cecil St

  12. Residents of Aitken St

  13. Residents of Kanowna St


122 Individual Submissions have been received from persons and family groups which include about 200 people.  In line with the Community Survey conducted by Save Williamstown which found that up to 98% of the community were against the development, only one submission is in support of the High-Rise High-Density Development.  Residents submissions include matters to do with the Unique Heritage of Williamstown; Consistency in Height Limits; Overshadowing and Overlooking Issues; Private Open Space Provison in the Development issues; Social Housing Issues; Community Needs issues; Developer Contribution issues; Community Infrastructure issues; Services Infrastructure Issues; Tourism issues; Community Consultation Issues: Zoning issues; Alternative design issues; Shipyard issues, Buffer Zone issues re Mobil and the Shipyards; Safety issues; Security issues and Climate Change issues.

Thank you to all those in the community who have sent copies of their submissions to Save Williamstown so that we can represent the broad views of the community.
 



Read! Anger Grows at
Towers proposed in Industrial Buffer Zones
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Port Phillip Woollen Mill Advisory Committee

established to advise the Planning Minister on Planning Controls for the site

Background to Committee and Submissions