Amendment C142port – Review of Heritage Overlay 6

Amendment C142 proposes to make the following changes:

• Amend the Schedule to Clause 43.01 (Heritage Overlay) and Planning Scheme Maps 6HO and 7HO, to apply the Heritage Overlay to include the following 138 new properties in HO6 and HO391 and remove one property from HO6 on a permanent basis.
• Amend the Schedule to Clause 43.01 (Heritage Overlay) and Planning Scheme Maps 6HO and 7HO, to apply individual Heritage Overlays to 21 Redan Street, St Kilda (HO503); 226 Alma Road, St Kilda (HO505); and 264-266 St Kilda Road, St Kilda (HO506) on a permanent basis.
• Update the incorporated Port Phillip Heritage Review Volumes 1-6 (Version 32, July 2020) to:
  • Replace the existing HO6 and HO391 citations with new citations.
  • Replace 76 existing individual property citations with new citations.
  • Add 5 new citations for individually significant properties within HO6 and HO391.
  • Add 3 new citations for new individually significant properties HO503, HO505 and HO506.
  • Update the grading of 63 properties already included in the Heritage Overlay.
  • Transfer 34 existing HO properties from HO6 and HO391.

• Amend the schedule to Clause 72.04 (Documents incorporated in this scheme) to include three new incorporated documents, being the individual Statements of Significance for new individually significant properties HO503, HO505 and HO506.
• Update the incorporated City of Port Phillip Heritage Policy Map (Version 32, July 2020) to show added and removed 'Significant Heritage Place', 'Contributory Heritage Place' and 'Nil / Non-contributory Place' gradings in the HO6 and HO391 precincts.
• update the incorporated City of Port Phillip Neighbourhood Character Map (Version 32, July 2020) to show removal of 'Contributory outside HO' graded properties now included within the HO6 or HO391 precincts.
• Include the Review of Heritage Overlay 6 report (David Helms Heritage Planning, 2019) as a background document in Clause 22.04 (Heritage Policy); and
• Make other consequential changes to Clauses 21.07 (Incorporated Documents, Clause 22.04 (Heritage Policy) and the schedule to Clause 72.04 (Documents incorporated in this scheme) to update the version number and date of the Port Phillip Heritage Review(including the City of Port Phillip Heritage Policy Map and the City of Port Phillip Neighbourhood Character Map).

Exhibition of Amendment C142port closed on 30 June 2019, and Council officers have considered submissions, which were presented to Council's Planning Committee on 28 August 2019. 13 submissions were received - one submission was in full support of the amendment, and 12 submissions raised specific concerns about the amendment.

The opposing submissions were unable to be resolved and have therefore were referred to an Independent Planning Panel for consideration.

The Panel occurred on 29 and 30 October 2019.

The Panel Report is available for viewing here: Amendment C142port Panel Report.

The Panel recommends that the amendment be adopted subject to:

• Retaining the existing boundaries of HO6 which is partially applied to 322-332 St Kilda Road, St Kilda (Gresham Laundry Site), rather than extending it to the whole property as was proposed in the amendment. This is because the rear of the site that has a frontage to Packington Street is a relatively new development and has no heritage significance.
• Removing two properties from HO6 on the basis that they have been demolished or do not contribute to the heritage significance of the precinct given their location and Nil heritage value.
• Amending the individual Citations for St Michaels School, 4 Chapel Street, St Kilda, and 42 Hotham Street, St Kilda East in response to submissions received.
• Making changes to the HO6 Citation in the Port Phillip Heritage Review, and the HO6 St Kilda East Precinct Review to include additional information relating to 322-332 St Kilda Road.
• Amending Planning Scheme Map 7HO to include a range of administrative changes as recommended in the panel report.
• Amending the relevant clauses in the Planning Scheme to reflect the correct date and version number of the Port Phillip Heritage Review and City of Port Phillip Heritage Policy Map and Neighbourhood Character Map, which have all been updated in line with these recommendations.
• Amending the HO6 St Kilda East Precinct Review to reflect the recommended changes to citations and other content of the amended Port Phillip Heritage Review, including the updated document date reference in Clause 22.04 and the Statements of Significance for HO503, HO505, and HO506.
• Updating the Amendment documentation and HO6 St Kilda East Precinct Review to provide a consistent naming approach to HO391 (Alma Road / Wavenhoe Avenue precinct), which is incorrectly described as the Alma Road / Murchison Street precinct throughout.

As part of the Panel process, Council must publish all expert witness reports on its website:

• Council's submission: Part A
• Statement of Evidence prepared for the City of Port Phillip (David Helms Heritage Planning, October 2019)
• Expert Witness Statement for 322-332 St Kilda Road, St Kilda (John Briggs, October 2019)

Amendment C142port was exhibited from 30 May to 30 June 2019. In response to the exhibition of Amendment C142port, Council received 13 submissions.

Review of Heritage Overlay 6

Recognising and protecting heritage places in the City of Port Phillip is a key priority of the Port Phillip Council Plan 2017-2027. Heritage Overlay 6 (HO6) is part of the Port Phillip Planning Scheme and applies heritage controls to the HO6 precinct in East St Kilda. Council us currently reviewing HO6 to make sure all heritage places in this precinct are recognised and protected. As part of this, Council's heritage advisor has prepared the Review of Heritage Overlay 6 Report. If Amendment C142 is approved, this report will be used as a reference document in the Port Phillip Planning Scheme and forms the basis of the proposed changes to the HO6 precinct.

What is a heritage overlay?

Places of heritage significance to a local area can be protected by a Heritage Overlay. The Heritage Overlay means that a planning permit is needed for buildings and works like new developments or additions to existing buildings. The overlay ensures that the heritage significance of both these buildings and the wider precinct is respected.

Why did we review Heritage Overlay 6?

The review of HO6 is part of an ongoing Council program to strengthen and update planning controls that apply to heritage precincts. The aim of this review is to address gaps in the extent of heritage controls geographically and by significance, update heritage gradings (properties are graded as either significant, contributory or nil) and include a stronger 'Statement of Significance' that details the reasoning behind the significance of a place, to help Council make planning decisions under the Heritage Overlay.

The report was released for public consultation in 2018.

What does the report recommend?

The report recommends changes to the way that we apply the Heritage Overlay in the HO6 precinct. While the focus of this review has been on the HO6 precinct, we've also identified a need to make changes to the HO391 precinct (the Murchison Street/ Alma Road precinct). The recommendations include:

• updating the HO6 and HO391 overall existing citations, as well as existing individual citations for sites within the HO6 and HO391 precincts.
• the extension of boundaries to HO6 to include properties that meet the test for a 'Significant' or 'Contributory' heritage place. This proposes the inclusion of 138 new properties within HO6 and HO391.
• the transfer of some properties between Hotham and Alexandra Streets from HO6 to HO391 on the basis that they have a stronger relationship to that precinct.
• the identification of 8 new individually significant heritage places. Of these, four are already within HO6, one is within HO391 and three others are outside HO6 and are proposed to have a site-specific heritage overlay applied, being:
  • HO503 - 21 Redan Street, St Kilda
  • HO505 - 226 Alma Road, St Kilda
  • HO506 - 264-266 St Kilda Road, St Kilda
• the changes of the heritage grading for 63 properties in HO6 and HO391, as well as the St Kilda Cemetery in HO455 from 'Nil' to 'Significant'.