In order to develop a management plan for the study area it is necessary to have a clear understanding of exactly what the purpose of the ‘green wedge’ is. Confusion and a lack of understanding of the purpose of the Western Plains North Green Wedge was a key issue raised at the community consultation sessions held as part of the project.
Uncertainty and scepticism existed as to whether the study area is intended to be a permanent non-urban area, or whether it is just a ‘holding zone’ used by the State government to prevent subdivision until the land is required for urban expansion. Recent expansion of Melbourne’s Urban Growth Boundary into green wedge areas on the fringe of Melbourne, has fuelled this uncertainty. However, recent direction from the State government has been towards more permanent ‘fixing’ of the Urban Growth Boundary. This is explicitly stated within the recently released draft metropolitan strategy ‘Plan Melbourne’.
It is also important to note that a ‘green wedge management plan’ is not a document which is intended to revise or reconsider the area identified as being part of the ‘green wedge’ but to examine mechanisms and actions which may assist with improving the land management of green wedges in line with the purposes of the zones defined by the Victorian Planning Provisions.
The purpose of the Green Wedge
The Green Wedge Zone applies to the majority of the Western Plains North Green Wedge. The purposes of the (amended) Green Wedge Zone as set out in the planning scheme include the following:
- To provide for the use of land for agriculture.
- To recognise, protect and conserve green wedge land for its agricultural, environmental, historic, landscape, recreational and tourism opportunities, and mineral and stone resources.
- To encourage use and development that is consistent with sustainable land management practices.
- To encourage sustainable farming activities and provide opportunity for a variety of productive agricultural uses.
- To protect, conserve and enhance the cultural heritage significance and the character of open rural and scenic non-urban landscapes.
- To protect and enhance the biodiversity of the area.
The above purposes are elaborated on below, with the intention of clarifying them in the context of issues raised by the community:
- To protect and to enhance areas of environmental, biodiversity and landscape values on the western fringe of Melbourne.
- To protect and enhance land for its historic, recreational and tourism opportunities consistent with the open rural landscape character of land in the green wedge.
- To protect land for its mineral and stone resources.
- To provide for the ongoing productive use of land for agriculture, of a type and form that is suited to areas on the western fringe of metropolitan Melbourne.
- To provide rural lifestyle opportunities, for those seeking to live in a rural area and to maintain their land in a sustainable way, for either agricultural, environmental or rural related purposes.
- To provide some opportunities for educational, recreational, institutional and other like urban related uses, that benefit from a location within an attractive rural environment, on the basis they provide significant opportunities to revegetate and enhance the environment features of the land, and are of a size and a scale that is consistent with the open rural character and landscape of the area.
- To promote sustainable land management in all regards, whether it be for conservation, agriculture or some other rural related use.
- To provide a long term non-urban boundary to metropolitan Melbourne.
- To manage rural land at the metropolitan interface, where it is subject to considerable spill-over activities from urban activities.
Green Wedge land is not designated to preserve land in a low intensity rural land use until it is required for long term urban growth and should not be planned in this way.