VICTORIAN Premier John Brumby has been branded a hypocrite for banning homes in certain coastal zones while rejecting a voluntary land buy-back scheme in areas vulnerable to bushfire.
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The state opposition has called for greater clarity around planning laws and said Mr Brumby was penalising those prepared to build at their own risk.
On Friday the government announced it had accepted the majority of recommendations made by the Bushfires Royal Commission, with the exception of placing all power lines underground and implementing a property buy-back program.
Mr Brumby said the voluntary scheme could increase fire risk by leaving some landowners surrounded by empty blocks.
But South West Coast MP Denis Napthine said the government, which implemented a ban on building in coastal areas around Portland, Narrawong and Port Fairy, had contradicted itself.
“They’re saying that they can’t stop people building in high-risk fire zones, yet they’re preventing these people who own their own land building houses because it may, some time in the future, be subject to flooding,” he said.
A moratorium on construction applies to about 150 blocks of land between Portland and Narrawong, though Planning Minister Justin Madden announced in 2008 that the owners of 24 properties could apply for building permits.
“People have bought land in those areas which was subdivided for housing and approved for housing and because they wanted to wait a bit of time before they designed and built the house they’ve been caught,” Dr Napthine said.
“There’s nothing they can do with the land, and it’s an absolute disgrace.”
The owners of 27 lots are today eligible to apply for a building permit, though Glenelg Shire has received only one application — on which a decision is yet to be made — in the past two years.
A complex application process requiring a range of professional assessments and management plans is thought to have deterred landholders.
Dr Napthine said the Coalition supported a voluntary land buy-back scheme for homes in bushfire-prone areas but was also in favour of coastal construction providing it met agreed standards and took place at the owner’s risk.
Glenelg Shire mayor Gilbert Wilson did not oppose homes being built on land vulnerable to rising seas but said owners should have to sign an agreement under which they would move their house if necessary.
A spokeswoman for Planning Minister Justin Madden said the government had a clear and consistent policy on development in both bushfire zones and land likely to be affected by climate change.
