What is Neighbourhood Character?
Neighbourhood character is the combination of the public and private realms. Every property, public place or piece of infrastructure makes a contribution, whether great or small. It is the cumulative impact of all these contributions that establishes neighbourhood character.
The key to understanding character is being able to describe how the features of an area come together to give that area its own particular character. Breaking up character into discrete features and characteristics misses out on the relationships between these features and characteristics.
Understanding how these relationships physically appear on the ground is usually the most important aspect in establishing the character of the area.
Why are we completing a Neighbourhood Character Assessment for our Service Towns?
Our Service townships have been growing for many years with an increase in denser housing including knock down and rebuild homes, or more substantial subdivisions submitted for planning approval.
As the town continues to grow, Neighbourhood Character is a key aspect of the community, landscape and built form that hold value. This character needs to be reviewed and retained.
A Neighbourhood Character assessment will also provide a more objective Strategic response to each smaller precinct within our townships which will allow for a greater alignment or objectivity of character. This will be important for the Statutory Planning Team, landowners and planning or development professionals that regularly submit planning applications to ensure continuity and respect for place.
This will also allow for key characteristics of the township to be retained whilst the town continues to experience growth and infill development in alignment with zoning.
How does a Neighbourhood Character assessment impact community?
There are currently no planning controls in place within the Alpine Shire Planning Scheme that define Neighborhood Character.
Every residential planning application for a dwelling should be assessed based on the Neighbourhood Character of the submission. This can be ambiguous and objective to define without an assessment and clear guidance for a particular township. This assessment should note characteristics and significance of certain design elements within each smaller neighbourhood/precinct.
These elements of assessment can relate to:
- Pattern of development in the area
- Built form, scale and character of neighbouring development (green space, fencing, building setbacks)
- Architectural style or materiality of a dwelling
- Landscape and integration with public realm
The Neighbourhood Character Assessment seeks to more clearly define these based on an objective review of the specific areas.
The Neighbourhood Character of an area does not seek to restrict development.