At the Ordinary Council Meeting held in May, Alpine Shire Council adopted Amendment C65alpi with changes made after the public exhibition period held between September and October 2025.
The amendment will now be submitted to the Minister for Planning for approval in accordance with Section 31 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987.
If approved, the amendment will implement the recommendations of the Alpine Planning Scheme Review 2023, which includes, but is not limited to:
- introducing new or revised local content into the Municipal Planning Strategy, Planning Policy Framework, and schedules to zones, overlays, particular provisions, general provisions and operational provisions to implement the recommendations of the Review;
- partial rezoning of properties at 27, 33, and 35 King Street, Myrtleford, from General Residential Zone (Schedule 1) to Farming Zone so that each land parcel is no longer in two zones;
- removing the Development Plan Overlay (Schedule 1) from the area around Tempo Court, Bright;
- introducing Environmentally Sustainable Design (ESD) into the Alpine Planning Scheme to ensure that development in Alpine Shire achieves a standard of environmental sustainability, in line with other councils that use an equivalent local policy; and
- incorporating the land use and development directions of Council’s adopted strategies and documents.
Alpine Shire Mayor, Cr Sarah Nicholas, recognised the enormous amount of work behind this amendment, which picked up a significant number of errors and anomalies correcting them as per the findings and recommendations of the Alpine Planning Scheme Review 2023.
"The amendment will help to make the Alpine Planning Scheme fit for purpose, providing clarity for future users and decision-makers of the scheme," she said.
"The amendment received six submissions, two of which could not be resolved, and was therefore referred to an independent planning panel for consideration."
Cr Nicholas said that the panel determined that the amendment will deliver a net community benefit and sustainable development for Alpine Shire, and it supported the amendment and Council officers' proposed post-exhibition changes.
"The panel has done a really good job of assessing the submissions and provided recommendations to Council on the amendment," she said.
"The panel supported the amendment with the post-exhibition changes proposed by Council officers to address the concerns with the submissions received."
The amendment will now be submitted to the Minister for Planning for approval.
Community members can view the report, which outlines how submissions were considered as part of Council's determination on the amendment, by visiting https://www.alpineshire.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2026-05/M%285%29_26_May_Ordinary_Council_Meeting_Agenda_%28F%29.pdf#page=29
Information about the engagement is available online on Engage Alpine: https://engage.alpineshire.vic.gov.au/amendment-c65alpi-alpine-planning-scheme