Planning, building and regulation
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How cool and green are our streets?
What can I do?
Cooling and greening activities are more effective when they include private property- even on a small balcony! You can help through creating a shaded and comfortable environment in your garden. There are opportunities to improve the local ecology and biodiversity at the same time: Gardens for Wildlife Victoria have information on creating a wildlife friendly garden, and if you live near a wetland or waterway check out this this frog friendly habitat guide from Melbourne Water. To find out about native plants for your area, have a look at your local council website.
By volunteering you can also play a vital role in protecting your local environment – helping to combat heat, improve stormwater management, and improve the resilience of local plant and animal species. The Victorian Government maintain an interactive portal to help you find opportunities to volunteer for nature near you.
What part does your garden play on your property?
How are councils responding?
Urban greening is one of the most effective ways of reducing urban heat and greening overall helps improve health and wellbeing outcomes for the community. There are also other important benefits that result from urban greening – urban greening helps increase permeability in urban areas (helping to reduce flood risk), and increased vegetation can improve local ecology while providing opportunities for human-nature interactions.
Many councils have adopted policies to enhance street trees, urban forest and urban greening – these strategies are designed to understand the extent and type of canopy cover and vegetation within the municipality, and the ways this can be enhanced and grown.
Additionally, many councils have adopted biodiversity strategies. Climate change and other stressors can be damaging to local ecology. These councils are taking an active role in understanding and managing biodiversity at local and regional scales.
Narrow Nature Strip Planting Program
Glen Eira City Council plants at least 1,000 trees each year. Trees protect us against the urban heat island effect, reduce storm water run-off, absorb air pollution, provide habitat for fauna, reduce wind speeds during storm events and absorb up to 150 kilograms of carbon dioxide per year.
Our Narrow Nature Strip Planting Program aims to increase tree canopy cover on streets that have very limited planting spaces, such as concrete footpaths. Narrow streets require the use of smaller tree canopy species and customised tree planting pits. The program addresses safety and access issues in relation to raised pavements and tree growth and expansion. By using the right trees in the right streets, we will increase our tree canopy cover and ensure that our street trees thrive into the future.
Blue-green infrastructure: City of Melton
The combination of a range of urban and environmental challenges led the City of Melton to identify large-scale delivery of passive irrigation for street trees as a major opportunity for achieving multiple social and environmental objectives. These include reducing stormwater runoff, supporting tree establishment, creating greener and cooler streetscapes, reducing the urban heat island effect, enhancing amenity, and supporting climate resilience.
Unlike many of the established urban areas of Victoria, the City of Melton has the opportunity to strategically plan for the inclusion of blue-green infrastructure in its new allotments. Through scaling up the integration of systems across its growth area, Council seeks to maximise the full range of benefits of passive irrigation while leveraging the opportunities that exist in greenfield development. In the long-term, the large-scale implementation of passive irrigation will result in a future 130,000 trees having access to stormwater to create vibrant, liveable streets for over 300,000 new residents in Melbourne’s western suburbs.
City of Whittlesea’s Urban Tree Canopy Project
This project collected and analysed data on urban tree canopy cover to support changes to the Whittlesea Planning Scheme, ensuring that more canopy trees are delivered as part of new residential development in certain zones. The urban tree canopy cover project was awarded ‘Best Planning Ideas - Small Project’ at the Victorian Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) 2019 Awards for Planning Excellence, where it was recognised for being delivered in-house by Council staff and for delivering an innovative, replicable and low-cost approach to determine urban tree canopy coverage at the neighbourhood level.
The project used LiDAR to benchmark tree canopy coverage in 2009 and measure the change in tree canopy cover over time using 2017 ArcGIS aerial imagery. The results of the urban tree canopy coverage project clearly linked the loss of urban tree canopy cover between 2009 and 2017 in the established suburbs of City of Whittlesea, to infill development. This provided strong evidence to support changes to General Residential Zone Schedules 4 and 5 requiring a canopy tree in front and rear setbacks of medium density development via Planning Scheme Amendment C200 (Housing Diversity & Design Policy & Schedules). The changes support implementation of the City of Whittlesea’s Housing Diversity Strategy 2013-2033, and is an important adaptation strategy to assist community resilience to climate change.
Living Melbourne: our metropolitan urban forest
Resilient Melbourne in partnership with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) have developed Living Melbourne: our metropolitan urban forest – a bold new strategy for a greener, more liveable Melbourne. A flagship action of the Resilient Melbourne strategy Living Melbourne presents a transformative approach to respond to urban challenges with nature.
Living Melbourne is the cumulative result of over two years of collaboration with a broad range of stakeholders that included to develop the evidence base and actions required to connect, extend and enhance urban greening across the metropolitan area. In an unprecedented effort, Living Melbourne has been endorsed by 41 organisations representing local government, Victorian government, water authorities, statutory agencies and industry bodies.
Living Melbourne aims to create a profound shift in the way we think about, value and grow Melbourne into the future.
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How are councils engaging the community, builders and developers on
climate change?What can I do?
There are a lot of great resources for building or renovating your home in a way that responds to the contemporary and future climate. Your local council is a great place to start for resources as part of the planning process. Sustainability Victoria also offer resources. Whether you’re building or interested in renovations, there are great tips on how to improve the energy efficiency of your home (more hot days means this will be particularly important for staying cool and comfortable) and sustainability more broadly (improving your water efficiency will help with climate risks such as reduced rainfall). For existing homes, an assessment through the Residential Energy Efficiency Scorecard can help you understand where and how to improve the energy efficiency of your home, to help save energy and keep you cool in summer.
Sustainability Victoria also have tips for renters to help keep your house more comfortable in the summer, and save water.
Have you considered climate change in the design of your home?
How are councils responding?
Councils provide advice to planning applicants about the ways in which residential and non-residential development can achieve long-term environmental outcomes, and utilise a range of tools to achieve these outcomes with the community. One tool used by a range of Victorian councils to engage with planning applicants is the Sustainable Design Assessment in the Planning Process (SDAPP) framework. This framework supports the implementation of Ecologically Sustainable Development principles. SDAPP is underpinned by 10 Key Sustainable Building Categories, many of which have co-benefits for climate change adaptation, and help to manage key climate risks including heat, reduced rainfall overall and more instances of extreme precipitation (with associated flood risk). There are secondary benefits to many of the principles as well, for example the focus on indoor environmental quality can help manage the impacts of smoke haze, associated with increased bushfire risk in a changing climate.
Councils also use a range of design guidelines and policies to facilitate more climate resilient developments. For example, policies might set out guidance for the orientation of lot development, utilising passive design principles to help keep buildings cool, or they might set out requirements for street trees to help reduce urban heat.
Mornington Peninsula Coastal Villages and Neighbourhoods Strategy
The Western Port Coastal Villages & Surrounding Settlements Strategy was adopted by Mornington Peninsula Shire on 14 October 2019. The Strategy aims to address potential climate change impacts on the Western Port Bay coastline – specifically inundation and erosion – whilst protecting and enhancing township character in response to pressures for change. The Strategy responds to the findings of the Western Port Local Coastal Hazard Assessment.
Townships included within the Strategy are: Hastings, Tyabb, Bittern, Crib Point, Balnarring and Balnarring Beach, Flinders, Red Hill and Red Hill South, Somers, Merricks and Merricks Beach, Point Leo and Shoreham. Township brochures summarise how the Strategy affects each township individually.
The Strategy has undergone extensive engagement and consultation to date with the community to inform:
- An overall vision and set of design objectives for each township;
- A framework plan for each township;
- Defined character areas and associated design guidelines for commercial, industrial and foreshore land in each township, with residential guidelines adapted from Council’s adopted Neighbourhood Character Study & Guidelines;
- Mapping of potential coastal inundation and erosion hazards for each township; and
- Recommended actions to address coastal hazards through the planning system and other initiatives in partnership with the State Government and allied government agencies.
Mornington Peninsula Shire will continue to engage and consult with the community through the statutory implementation of the Strategy into the Mornington Peninsula Planning Scheme, via a proposed Planning Scheme Amendment (anticipated to commence in mid-2020). This will ensure that future development respects township character and is responsive to predicted climate change impacts on the coast.
City of Melbourne's Greening Your Building Toolkit
Greening Your Building: A toolkit for improving asset performance is a guide for building owners and facility managers. It contains more than 70 management, maintenance and refurbishment initiatives designed to improve a building’s environmental performance while reducing operating costs.
The toolkit provides information on a range of green building activities, from retrofitting your entire building, replacing plant and equipment, to simply looking for ways to incorporate green practices into ongoing maintenance and management of your building.
Each initiative is summarised with information about potential benefits, risks, the process of implementation, payback periods and approximate costs as well as directions on where you can find more detailed information.
The initiatives are cross-indexed by their environmentally sustainable design (ESD) categories. These categories align with the Green Building Council of Australia’s Green Star categories, allowing you to identify the impact of each improvement.
The toolkit was developed in response to the Building Improvement Partnership Program run by the City of Melbourne in partnership with Sustainability Victoria, Australian Institute of Refrigeration Air Conditioning and Heating, and the Sustainable Melbourne Fund.
Urban Water: Discover how water creates a liveable city
The Urban Water website has been developed by the City of Melbourne in partnership with the State Government of Victoria.
This website was developed as part of the Urban Water project, which aims to increase understanding about sustainable water management in cities. On this website you will find detailed case studies about water projects we have completed, information about projects that are underway and interactive content that explains why holistic management of the water cycle is so important.
More information about the impacts of urbanisation on the water cycle can be found on the Urban Water website.
City of Melbourne’s Growing Green Guide
Greening Your Building: A toolkit for improving asset performance is a guide for building owners and facility managers. It contains more than 70 management, maintenance and refurbishment initiatives designed to improve a building’s environmental performance while reducing operating costs.
The toolkit provides information on a range of green building activities, from retrofitting your entire building, replacing plant and equipment, to simply looking for ways to incorporate green practices into ongoing maintenance and management of your building.
Each initiative is summarised with information about potential benefits, risks, the process of implementation, payback periods and approximate costs as well as directions on where you can find more detailed information.
The initiatives are cross-indexed by their environmentally sustainable design (ESD) categories. These categories align with the Green Building Council of Australia’s Green Star categories, allowing you to identify the impact of each improvement.
The toolkit was developed in response to the Building Improvement Partnership Program run by the City of Melbourne in partnership with Sustainability Victoria, Australian Institute of Refrigeration Air Conditioning and Heating, and the Sustainable Melbourne Fund.
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How are councils advocating for and implementing policies and
guidelines consistent with a changing climate?What can I do?
Do you attend community “have your say” events or participate in council surveys and focus groups?
Community engagement is an important way for councils to understand the needs and priorities of their communities. Councils undergo formal engagement processes to make changes to local planning schemes – these processes allow for your voice to be heard on the consistency of council decisions with a changing climate.
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Department of Environment, Land Water and Planning Portal
How are councils responding?
The Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) is a membership association and the legislated peak body for local government in Victoria. The MAV are engaged in policy and advocacy work for their member councils on issues of planning and building. A key immediate priority of the MAV is the interaction between climate change and land use planning. The MAV also undertake projects aligning with their strategic priorities – for example, and Port Phillip Bay Coastal planning project is focused on planning for coastal hazards, a key challenge in a changing climate. This project is in partnership with the Association of Bayside Municipalities and funded through the Department of Environment, Land Water and Planning.
Many councils in Victoria are a member of CASBE. CASBE is an independent alliance of councils in Victoria, operating under the auspices of the MAV. CASBE engage in advocacy for Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD). While ESD relates to sustainability in the built environment more broadly, key aspects of ESD contribute to climate change adaptation. For example, better thermal comfort in the indoor environment and sunshading helps with heat stress in a changing climate.
Kingston City Council - Stormwater In-lieu contribution scheme
Under Victorian Planning Provisions, residential developments are required to meet Best Practice Environmental Management Guidelines (BPEMG) standards for stormwater management. However, once implemented, there is little ongoing monitoring or maintenance of these systems to ensure stormwater quality goals are being met.
The stormwater quality in-lieu mechanism developed by Kingston City Council with the backing of Melbourne Water allows medium and high-density residential developers to ‘opt-in’ to pay a fee to Council in-lieu of meeting all or a portion of their stormwater compliance obligations on-site. Council then uses these funds to invest in Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) assets off-site that deliver equivalent or better stormwater quality outcomes than those required under BPEMG. These assets are typically medium-scale bio-retention systems with storage and reuse components treating 20 to 70 hectare catchments.
Through Council’s requirement that all developments have a minimum 2,000 litre rainwater tank (contributing to both stormwater quality and quantity), most developers are only required to pay the in-lieu fee to meet their remaining stormwater quality obligations. Several sites for medium-scale WSUD assets are being progressed by Council as a result of the scheme.
Water Sensitive Urban Design
In a changing climate, Victoria’s overall rainfall is projected to decrease, though there will be more instances of extreme precipitation, which poses a flood risk.
The natural water cycle is also impacted by buildings and sealed surfaces. As a result, natural water flows are altered and stormwater is created. This stormwater carries pollution into our waterways and can cause local flooding during heavy rainfall events.
Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) is the design of buildings, subdivisions and building works to minimise the hydrological impact of urban development on the surrounding environment and waterways, and consider the urban water cycle in a more holistic way. WSUD involves treating and reducing stormwater flows, increasing soil moisture, urban greening and providing an alternative waters source.
WSUD can take various forms including infrastructure upgrades, streetscape layout changes, piping reconfigurations, storage tanks, and the use of different paving. Several councils have gazetted WSUD policies (see a full list here).
Environmentally Sustainable Development
Image: Townhouses under construction in Wollert, Whittlesea City Council.
Councils participating in ‘How Well Are We Adapting’ recognise the important need to consider climate change adaptation in the planning scheme. In Victoria since 2009, a number of councils have gazetted local ESD policies (see CASBE). These policies provide a framework for early consideration of environmental sustainability at the building design stage in order to achieve the following efficiencies and benefits:
- Easier compliance with building requirements through passive design;
- Reduction of costs over the lifecycle of the building;
- Improved affordability over the longer term through reduced running costs;
Improved amenity and liveability; - More environmentally sustainable urban form; and
- Integrated water management.
Councils have reported that a positive outcome of adopting ESD policies has been the opportunity to engage with the development community on the need for ESD in planning for the built environment. This education and engagement has resulted in the successful uptake of sustainability considerations early in the development planning process.
Through ensuring the sustainability of our built environment, we can improve the resilience of our built environment to climate risks, including more hot days and reduced overall rainfall.
