BAYSIDE City Council is the first council in Victoria to introduce a local planning policy to catch stormwater run-off from residential, commercial and industrial properties to Port Phillip Bay. Planning Minister Justin Madden has approved the local planning policy (Amendment C44) and it comes into affect on 4 June 2009.

Bayside Mayor Councillor James Long said precious rain that is currently washed through the stormwater system would be retained, reused and recycled in toilets, laundries and gardens.

“Bayside is the first municipality in Victoria to take this important step and is leading the way in incorporating stormwater management into the planning system in the state.

“From 4 June, many new planning applications in Bayside will need to incorporate water sensitive urban design features, such as rain gardens, filtration systems, porous pavements and water tanks, etc into the design.”

Cr Long said he encouraged people who were currently designing a development to contact Council to find out whether water sensitive design features would be required in their design. For further information refer to the compliance guidelines for new development - Water Sensitive Urban Design (Stormwater Management), which are available from the Building section of the website.

Bayside’s stormwater plan is supported by Melbourne Water, the Municipal Association of Victoria and the Association of Bayside Municipalities.

Amendment C44 is based on recommendations of the Clean Stormwater Strategy report prepared by the Association of Bayside Municipalities (ABM). Bayside City council agreed to develop C44 as a pilot amendment to give statutory effect to the report’s recommendations.