John Glasson

LSEA and SA in the UK and Europe

John Glasson
Oxford Brookes University, UK

Abstract:
The Victorian Government, in partnership with the Australian Government, has recently completed a strategic assessment to provide for Melbourne’s population growth to 2030 (Delivering Melbourne’s Newest Sustainable Communities).

This strategic assessment, the first to be completed under the Australian Government’s flagship environment protection legislation, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), provides for 284,000 houses and related transport
infrastructure. Endorsement provides developers and local governments with certainty about future directions and decision making rules and demonstrates strategic assessments can be particularly beneficial in balancing issues such as regional development pressures, long term conservation protection, and complex, large-scale developments with multiple stakeholders.

A key outcome is the creation of a new 15,000 hectare Western Grassland Reserve to be established through developer offsets for clearing of native grasslands within the designated growth areas.

The new reserve will ensure protection of 20% of remaining threatened native grasslands on the 2.4 million hectare Victorian Volcanic Plains Bioregion (compared to the current 2%) ensuring meaningful protection at a landscape and ecosystem scale.

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