McLaren Vale Township Planning Review Project

Community engagement was undertaken for the McLaren Vale Township Planning Review from October 2021 to March 2022 to best understand a future vision for the town and to determine whether there were elements of the town that are particularly valued or could be open for change. A Discussion Paper was developed with input from early stakeholder engagement.

Consultation on this Discussion Paper was undertaken in accordance with the Community Engagement Strategy approved by Council on 18 January 2022. It was informed by a series of site visits and background investigations with input from key internal staff, early engagement with the Project Steering Group, an Elected Member session and two key stakeholders’ workshops.

Formal community engagement to understand the community’s vision for the future was also undertaken with residents, landowners and relevant stakeholders including government departments and community groups, from 3 February to 11 March 2022.

Council letterboxed all residential and business addresses in township (1518 postcards), sent out 466 emails to interested residents, offered on line and in-person drop-in information sessions. Council’s Your Say online platform engaged 1,700 visitors with 635 Discussion Paper downloads and 74 Surveys and mapping tool comments received.

All community views are contained in the Summary of Community Engagement Report approved by Council’s Strategic Directions Committee (SDC) on 7 June 2022.

The feedback from the engagement has now informed the suggested policy responses as set out in the McLaren Vale Township Policy Review Policy Recommendations Report.

The policy responses aim to improve on existing planning policy that was transitioned from Council’s former Development Plan into the new Planning and Design Code (the Code). It is intended to provide a clear framework to guide future development and growth, while seeking to protect and enhance the character and amenity of the township for the local and wider community.

The suggested policy responses would result in the following outcomes:

• limiting residential development in a targeted manner via changes to allotment sizes in appropriate areas
• propose a new suite of zones to better reflect the role and character of the main street and to encourage future development opportunities
• provide additional policy levers such as a Concept Plan, a Subzone and a Gateway Overlay to guide development and infrastructure and enhance and protect significant character elements within the township.

Council has a strong commitment to supporting the liveability and economic prosperity of its region. Accordingly, we need to ensure that policy responds to demands and assists where appropriate to achieve this vision. The project is aimed at protecting character and improving liveability, sensitively managing development, and encouraging investment within the township boundaries of McLaren vale (not the rural areas).

This is a town planning project to review land-use zoning and policy. It is separate to, but complements, the recent Five-Year McLaren Vale Main Street Tourism Vision Action Plan that was developed with the McLaren Vale Business and Tourism Association. That Action Plan was approved by Council at its March 2021 meeting and is intended to encourage visitors to stop, stay and spend, with a focus on gateway and entry, public art, greening and sustainability, streetscape, and public realm along with night-time economy.

This review is not proposing to change the township boundaries as defined by the McLaren Vale Character Preservation District. Instead, the review is looking to:

• understand the community’s vision for McLaren Vale and engage with the McLaren Vale community to understand their concerns and ideas 
• identify key features and characteristics that are important to McLaren Vale as a place to live, work and play
• work out if there’s a mismatch with what our town is trying to achieve in relation to supporting its functions, both as a tourism hub for the area, and as a residential and service centre for the surrounding population
• how best to accommodate planned growth in population, as well as supporting our ageing population and ageing in place
• understand what implications there are for future infrastructure planning and delivery
• ensure that development policy supports economic and tourism opportunities appropriate to the town’s heritage settings and value 
• encourage good quality design outcomes in keeping with the main character elements of the township, including setting, scalability and use of materials.