MOUNT GAMBIER

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (15:21): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Urban Development and Planning a question about the Greater Mount Gambier Master Plan.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: I have been informed by a number of concerned members of the community in Mount Gambier that the minister today has gazetted the Greater Mount Gambier Master Plan, and of particular interest to people in the Mount Gambier community is the Northern Gateway of that master plan. The understanding of the stakeholders was that the land fronting the Northern Gateway was to be a 500 square metre bulky goods and retail area. In the plan the minister has gazetted, it appears that that is not the case and that 'deferred urban' is now the zone. Will the minister explain why there has been that change in the Greater Mount Gambier Master Plan?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning) (15:22): I am pleased to announce that the Greater Mount Gambier Master Plan has been finalised and formally adopted by the government. The Greater Mount Gambier Master Plan identifies where different land uses, such as housing, industry and retail activities, should and should not be located as Mount Gambier grows during the next 20 years. The master plan includes locations and staging for residential development and three distinct commercial and retail locations—the City Centre precinct, a Northern Gateway precinct and a Western Gateway precinct—and each of those precincts has been designated different roles and types of activity to be gradually developed.

The honourable member asked why it has changed. We began this process of developing a master plan for Mount Gambier because, as I am sure the honourable member knows, two councils are involved down there. The City of Mount Gambier is almost an enclave inside the District Council of Grant. The airport and much of the outer fringes of Mount Gambier, with the exception of the northern entrance, are in the District Council of Grant. So we have had problems where councils essentially have been working at cross purposes (the best way to describe it) in relation to their planning and decisions, and that is not in the best interests of the town as a whole.

When a number of concerns were raised with me about the lack of collaboration between the two councils, I brought those councils together to agree on a joint master plan for the entire area. That is the reasoning behind the development of the master plan and I am pleased to say that the process has been finalised, and today the master plan was gazetted. It ignores those council boundaries and treats the whole of Mount Gambier as a single entity for strategic land planning.

I should mention that the process of developing the master plan has involved the councils and the government in analysing population growth and land availability. In particular, the master plan reflects the wishes of the councils. Given that the two councils had competing views, there was a lot of discussion involved but, in the end, I believe that compromises were made on behalf of both those entities to reflect their wishes to protect prime agricultural land and important environmental assets, such as the Blue Lake, to sustain the viability of existing and future economic activities, to prevent conflict between neighbouring land uses, to provide an unambiguous plan for growth, and to optimise the vibrancy and appeal of Mount Gambier as a regional city.

To answer one of the interjections made by the honourable member, the decision made today gives statutory effect under the Development Act, and it will now guide the councils in reviewing and updating their individual development plans. Development plans must be consistent with the planning strategy. So, having gazetted that today, any individual development plans developed by the two councils must be consistent with that planning strategy.

As an interim step in this process, I have introduced a ministerial development plan amendment with interim effect to rezone land in the Northern Gateway precinct to make sure that there is no conflict with the master plan. I understand that there has been an application for development in that region. The gazetting of the Greater Mount Gambier Master Plan and the interim rezoning for the Northern Gateway will not affect applications that were lodged prior to that coming into effect. They will be assessed under the previous zoning.

The reason we have created this new deferred urban Northern Gateway zone is to ensure that development contrary to the intent of the new Greater Mount Gambier Master Plan does not occur. As I said, we have already had applications under the old zoning that would be contrary to the intention of the master plan. So, this interim zoning will not affect those applications that have already been lodged, but it will mean that, with interim operation, any new applications must comply with the strategy that has been jointly agreed by the two councils after, I should add, some significant amount of effort.

It is intended that the interim zoning in the Northern Gateway be in place until a detailed design framework is completed for that gateway precinct and its findings can be implemented by a further subsequent rezoning. The affected land currently accommodates a number of uses, including a caravan park, a seed-growing farm, primary production and homes, and any uses that are lawfully established will obviously be permitted to continue under that interim zoning.

While existing uses will continue, the rezoning indicates that it is desirable that they are not expanded and that no activities are established or fragmented allotments created that might prejudice the desired orderly development of the land in the future in line with the master plan. A restricted range of rural uses, such as farming, cropping and grazing, are envisaged for the zone until it is rezoned for future urban expansion.

So, that is the reason that the government has adopted this master plan strategy: it is necessary for cities such as Mount Gambier, where you have two competing councils. Incidentally, it would also probably be desirable for places such as Port Lincoln, Gawler, Victor Harbor and a number of other areas, where adjoining councils may have competing interests and may wish to promote development in the interests of the individual council but not necessarily in the interests of the region as a whole.

I hope that in this state we gradually move towards a more regional approach to planning. That is the philosophy behind the specific case of the interim rezoning for the Northern Gateway: to ensure that effect is given to the intention of this master plan strategy developed by the two councils.