Today the Shire launched the long awaited Environment Strategy at Birdsland Environment Centre. As a community member of the working group that helped develop the strategy over a number of years it is a great relief to see it finally emerge into the public domain. A number of UYDEC members provided significant input to the strategy. Work began to create this strategy some years ago and it was quite an oversight for a Shire such as Yarra Ranges, with its wealth of natural assets and declared intention to be environmental leaders, not to have had an environment stratetgy until now.

Tonight I attended the Council meeting to ask that Council defer the Request the Minster for Planning authorise preparation of a planning scheme amendment to introduce a revised Local Planning Policy Framework.

The Local Planning Policy Framework is a key element of the Yarra Ranges Planning Scheme and contains both the local planning policies and the Municipal Strategic Statement. In effect this is the part of the planning scheme that injects local perspectives on what we wish to see in our communities.

In the short amount of time that I had to review the revised Local Planning Policy Framework - I was certain that the document was not 'policy-neutral'.

I asked Council to provide sometime to allow for corrections to be made in order to ensure that the document indeed reflected current policy. Council agreed to delay forwarding the request ot the Minister for a month in order for me to meet with Shire planning staff to go over my areas of concern

The protection and therefore management of our natural environment is a high priority for local environment groups. Many hours, amongst the highest in the state, are volunteered to do just this. Predominantly these hours are spent on weed control. 

On Tuesday the 18th of March 2008, I had the pleasure of attending a forum on renewable energy hosted by the Dandenong Ranges Renewable Energy Association (DRREA). There were a number of guest speakers who provided useful information about community level action to install renewable energy facilities. What i found most inspiring was the activities that have been undertaken and that are planned for our local area.

One of the issues that members of UYDEC have often raised is the need for some kind of system that provides better details about a property to prospective purchasers prior to purchase.

We have in the past discussed changes that could be made to the Sale of Land Act, in particular Section 32 which covers a 'Statement of matters affecting land being sold'. It details all the information that must be provided to the prospective purschaser prior to the sale of the land.