If we have no other comments I am very happy to proceed with these as the official minutes for this Forum. I will need to send you the list of people present, but once you have these we can have the minutes sent out SOLN Committee Members for the meeting on the 16th May.

I apologise for not having done this earlier- I have had to be away for school for the past few days- but I want to sincerely thank all of you for taking the time and breaking into your weekend to be a participant at this Forum. It was a team effort and has now given us a very strong focus for moving on.

Regards to you all

Denise

Victoria’s native vegetation is protected by legislation. Check with the Shire before starting any work that could impact native vegetation as a planning permit may be required. There are some exemptions, but please phone the Planning and Environment Department on 52329400 to check. There are very strict laws in place to enforce illegal vegetation removal.

Vegetation is protected by the native vegetation retention controls within Clause 52.17 of the Colac Otway Shire’s Planning Scheme http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/planningschemes/colacotway/home.html.
Local laws and overlays may also apply to the land in question. These have additional controls and requirements and may override some exemptions. Such overlays may include:
• Vegetation Protection Overlay
• Environmental Significance Overlay (ESO1, ESO2, ESO3, ESO4 and ESO5)
• Significant Landscape Overlay
• Erosion Management Overlay
There may also be additional requirements for the management and protection of native vegetation under the State’s Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 and the Federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

If Council discovers that somebody has undertaken illegal clearing, Council will either; ask the offender to cease work immediately, or if they do not, we will issue a stop work order though VCAT to prevent any further clearing being undertaken. Once the illegal clearing has ceased Council will either:
- Take enforcement action through VCAT for rehabilitation/revegetation (often a very expensive and time consuming exercise); or
- Ask the offender to apply for a retrospective planning permit if Council/DSE believe there is an improved environmental outcome from doing so (the ‘off-set’ requirements of permanent protection of vegetation, weed control and revegetation are a greater improvement on the site than was previously the case)

Therefore, Council will only consider issuing retrospective permits in a small and selected number of situations and STRONGLY DISCOURAGES this type of land use planning.

Applications for permits to remove native vegetation need to be completed on the standard ‘Application for a Planning Permit’ form. Planning permit forms can be obtained from the Council offices or from our website www.colacotway.vic.gov.au

If you see anybody that is undertaking vegetation removal that could be a breach of the Planning Scheme, please contact the Environment and Planning Department immediately on 52329400.

I enjoyed the discussion on Saturday. I thought we gained a better appreciation of everyone’s interests & concerns. Denise did a good job chairing the meeting. Thanks to all the community members who attended on their weekend. The cake was sensational!