Land at Murton Rd, Tatura needs more studies done before a housing development will be able to go ahead.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
Two areas of land in Tatura have been given the green light to forge ahead with housing development, despite pleas from developers of a third piece of land to hold off.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
Greater Shepparton City councillors voted at their March meeting to endorse the staged progression of the Tatura Precinct Structure Plan, with the Midland Hwy and Pyke Rd precincts given the go-ahead to continue to the next stage of the planning process.
A third Tatura development precinct – in Murton Rd – will have to wait for any further progression because of drainage and flood constraints, including it having no formal drainage outfall.
In a report tabled at the council meeting, council officers said the Murton Rd precinct was subject to significant drainage and flood constraints that needed updated and detailed technical investigation to mitigate council’s risk exposure to impacts of development.
A map of the Tatura development areas discussed at the council meeting.
The Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority has told council that old flood modelling from a 2006 flood study for the area was no longer “fit for purpose”, and new flood modelling was needed in the area to ensure any development did not flood adjoining or downstream properties, or increase risk elsewhere, the report said.
Goulburn-Murray Water also needs to evaluate any impacts there would be on its drainage network with the area changing from rural to urban land use.
Council said the other two areas did not have flood constraint issues and therefore should not be held back from progressing to the next stage in the development process to allow parcels of new land for housing to open up sooner in Tatura.
Seven of the nine councillors voted to endorse the staged progression of the project, with more flood study work to be done on the Murton Rd land.
Cr Steve Threlfall abstained from voting, while Cr Anthony Brophy was not present for the discussion or vote because of a conflict of interest.
The vote comes after pleas from developers and landowners in the Murton Rd precinct for councillors to defer their decision to allow all three parcels of land to move together as a whole of Tatura precinct plan.
They say this would only have put any council decisions off for 12 months – possibly less – while the studies were done.
One of the developers for the Murton Rd precinct, Urban Land Projects developer Paul Ranson, said council’s decision was “a really concerning outcome for Tatura” in the long-term.
The Midland Hwy land has been given a green light by council to forge ahead with housing development plans.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
He said “quality decisions” could not be made before the flood modelling and integrated storm water management planning were completed.
“This is putting the horse before the cart,” he said.
Mr Ranson said the main issue was that the opportunity for Tatura to have the most cost-efficient integrated stormwater drainage outcome was compromised by council making the decision it had.
“The best civil design outcomes in residential subdivision developments are obtained when the whole area is looked at in a holistic way,” he said.
Mr Ranson said he was also concerned that landowners in the Murton Rd precinct were continually being hit with bills of hundreds of thousands of dollars in windfall gains tax on the basis that their land was developable.
He said some landowners were being slugged with bills of $100,000 or $200,000 and he knew of one who was struggling to pay the tax – with the only way to do so being to sell the land, which they were unable to do while it was still in limbo.
While the windfall gains tax is state government mandated when land is classified as an urban growth area, and council says it does not support this tax being implemented, Mr Ranson said it was council’s remit to look at the land in the first place and make a recommendation for its potential residential use.
He is concerned that by splitting the Murton Rd land off from the others may make it more expensive for people to buy and there was a risk that it may not be developable at all.
Two sections of land at Pyke Rd will be able to be developed into housing areas.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
“The consequence of the split is it had potential to increase the cost development substantially and, at best, make it unviable,” Mr Ranson said.
“That’s because the whole system is not looked at as a whole.”
Mr Ranson also said that, in 2021, developers were told there were available stormwater drainage outlets in the Murton Rd precinct, but four years later were told by council that there were no outlets available on the land.
Council building, planning and compliance manager Colin Kalms said council made the decision to split the Murton Rd precinct from the other parcels of land to be developed because more flood information was needed, and council did not want to hold up the other developments.
Despite some of the Murton Rd land facing flooding issues, Mr Kalms said it was only “speculation” that there would be less blocks in the Murton Rd precinct, therefore pushing up prices because there were less properties for the costs of drainage to be split between.
“Until the flood study is done it is not possible to look at options for development yield,” he said.
Mr Ranson, however, suggested civil engineers with experience in developing land should also be brought in as he believes they could help with coming up with some solutions to the issues with the land.
16°C