Residential development and the natural environment

Is environmentally sustainable development possible, or is it just a dream?

There are many considerations implied within the term sustainable development – low energy consumption, clean water and sanitation, mitigating global warming, social and health well-being, industrial infrastructure and employment opportunities, responsible consumption and waste disposal, etc, and environmental sustainability

Good sustainable development should accommodate social, economic and environmental concerns. As we try to cope with climate change, loss of biodiversity, social and political conflict and scarcity of resources in our fast-changing world, environmentally sustainable development has become increasingly important.

Access to some natural environment or parkland
is part of environmentally sustainable development

It is well understood that the natural environment directly influences people’s health and well-being. Whether we are aware of it or not, we are all better off with a dose of nature from time to time. Many cultures embrace practices such as ‘forest bathing’ and ‘ecotherapy’ for the benefits they bring to our bodies and minds.

Right now, right here in beautiful Baw Baw we are experiencing unprecedented and inevitable development, much of it having a negative impact on our natural environment. We can’t stop it but could we be doing it better, more sustainably?

Could things be done differently?

In 2015, the United Nations adopted an Agenda for Sustainable Development that contained 17 sustainable development goals that agencies in many nations signed up to, including the Victorian Government’s  DELWP, Trust for Nature and others. The UN Sustainable Development goal number 15 (link below) that DELWP has undertaken to achieve, reads:  Goal 15 seeks to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

This six acre bush block is to become a 25 lot subdivision

In 2018, the Baw Baw Shire and seven other Victorian regional Councils engaged AECOM Australia to research, identify and test the feasibility of embedding environmentally sustainable development (ESD) in subdivisions (link below).

The AECOM report states that “ESD initiatives do not always filter down to street and lot level. There is opportunity to increase greening and tree canopy cover through better street design.”, an opportunity very clearly lost in the Warragul and Drouin Precinct Structure Plans.

Properties in shady streets generally have lower energy costs,
greater health benefits, higher resale value, etc

It is currently obvious to many in the Drouin community particularly, that environmentally sustainable development is held in low regard by developers and that our PSP urgently needs strengthening.

Further reading:

Environmentally Sustainable Design for Subdivisions in Regional Victoria 2018 AECOM Australia - (“There are clear social, economic and environmental benefits associated with ESD in regional subdivisions.”)

DELWP Sustainable Development Goals - (DELWP Outcomes “Healthy, resilient and biodiverse environment”)

Baw Baw Shire Sustainability Strategy - (“Vision statement: To be one of the most environmentally sustainable Shire’s in Victoria”)

 United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Sustainable Development – (“Goal 15 Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss”)