Moyne Shire Council seeks answer on planning amendments

Brett Davis said the council had contacted the department on a number of occasions to find out when a decision would be made on the C69 and C70 planning amendments.

"Both amendments - C69 and C70 - which council approved and sent to the minister in February and March would take care of approximately 800 houses - if they were fully developed - across the shire," Mr Davis said.

"It is frustrating - to say the least - that we have reached out to the department on a number of occasions to see where they are at."

Mr Davis said a number of Victorian councils were experiencing lengthy waits.

"The Municipal Association of Victoria did a survey which found two thirds (of respondents) said they had at least one amendment with the minister for at least 12 months so we know there's a backlog," he said.

"We will be advocating strongly for a resolution to that sooner rather than later."

Mr Davis also said he recently had a tour of the Nagambie Waterways development, where worker accommodation had been constructed.

"There's an example there of some modular building that has occurred," Mr Davis said.

He said the council was awaiting for guidelines on how to apply for funding that was promised after the Commonwealth Games were called off for worker accommodation.

"We will be looking forward to potentially receiving some granny flats and other housing opportunities that would greatly assist some of our communities in attracting key workers across our main townships in particular," Mr Davis said.

The C70 planning amendment is designed to implement the council's Rural Housing and Settlement Strategy, which will guide the way land is developed for housing in Moyne Shire over the coming decades.

The C69 amendment makes dozens of changes to zoning in Port Fairy, opening some areas of land for development and constraining it in others.

In particular, the strategy will set the rules for zoning and subdividing agricultural land, so-called "rural living" zones, and areas on the fringe of smaller townships in the shire.

Under the proposed changes, areas around Grassmere, Hawkesdale, Woolsthorpe, Koroit, Kirkstall, Crossley, Southern Cross, and Illowa would be moved from the farming zone into rural living zone.

The changes would make it much easier to subdivide land into smaller lots and build houses without having to apply for a permit.

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