Use of planning agreements to support sustainability and environmental preservation: A case study from Victoria, Australia

Purpose: Sustainable values and implementation tools are now more widely included in Australian land use planning and development. Planning agreements are one instrument by which environmental values and preservation can be made more enduring, particularly as planning agreements run with the land. Little has been said about these agreements and the purpose of this paper is to strive to add to the body of knowledge in this area. The aim of this paper is to introduce a contextual framework for planning agreements, drawing on collaborative planning theory and practice. It also demonstrates how planning agreements can been used as a tool to preserve environmental values and principles generally, and more particularly the rich flora and fauna in the surrounding housing estate adjacent to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Cranbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Design/methodology/approach: The paper relies on a case study from the municipality of Casey located in the state of Victoria and introduces measures taken, via planning agreements between the municipality and estate developers, to preserve green values and the flora and fauna located in the surrounds of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Cranbourne.

Findings: The case study suggests that, whilst the planning agreements may have established excellent procedure and practice to preserve the flora and fauna at the botanic gardens and in its surrounds, the effectiveness of the planning agreements as an environmental preservation tool has limitations. This may be due to the lack of resources for more effective information dissemination and enforcement. Ultimately, it may have to be left to the goodwill of residents to ensure environmental protection of the botanic gardens and its surrounds is maintained.

Research limitations/implications: As the housing estate is still a young development, the case study is an exploratory approach. This leaves open the opportunity for further data to be gathered from estate residents into the effectiveness of the preservation and enforcement of the green values and principles raised in the planning agreements. There is also the opportunity to take the study further to ascertain longitudinally, how respectful original and subsequent owners are of the green values planted in the planning agreements.

Originality/value: The analysis of the case study is instructive, particularly as there is a dearth of literature on how effective planning law agreements are as an environmental preservation and sustainability tool.