This Rosedale Statement of Place has been developed over several years. A Working Group considered all comments made at the 2005 Annual General Meeting and drafted an amended Statement of Place, which was circulated for comment in February 2006 and then revised again.

 

The Annual General Meeting of the Rosedale Association, held on Saturday 15 April 2006, adopted the following Statement of Place, incorporating amendments from the floor.

 

Character Statement

Rosedale is a coastal hamlet free of commercial development, surrounded by native forest and rural land, with pleasant walks and beautiful beaches and outlooks. The community has nurtured the native vegetation, wildlife, beaches and creek that make up its valued natural environment. Since its original settlement, Rosedale has avoided becoming ‘suburbia by the sea’. It is one of very few locations in the shire characterised by relatively modest beach houses in an attractive bushland setting with a holiday atmosphere. Rosedale has retained its casual coastal bushland character because homeowners have consistently opposed all forms of commercial development, including shops and caravan parks. Residents believe that they are already well-served by amenities in nearby villages and towns, and that any commercial development (with the exception of occasional holiday letting) would threaten Rosedale’s special ambience. The residents see that their houses and their relationship with each other and the surrounding natural environment form a rare combination which is worthy of protection and enhancement.

 

Vision Statement

The desire for the future is to maintain and enhance the unique character of the Rosedale hamlet where:

  1. Residents enjoy an informal coastal lifestyle free of any commercial development.
  2. The natural environment dominates the built environment.
  3. Dwellings respect the bush, sea and beach views of neighbours.
  4. Dwellings retain a modest beach house character, with small footprint and plot ratio, and blend into the bushland environment.
  5. The bushland backdrop to the beach and sea is maintained and enhanced.
  6. The bushland character is enhanced around and between dwellings by retention of native trees and undergrowth.
  7. The well-being and presence of native fauna and flora are actively promoted.
  8. The environmental health of Saltwater Creek is enhanced and the dunes are stabilised.

 

Supporting Guidelines

The Rosedale Association considers that the following measures are needed to achieve the desired character.

Methods for achieving the desired character

  1. Preclude any commercial development (excluding occasional holiday letting) within the hamlet
  2. Maintain only single residential development and use.
  3. Make buildings and the settlement as a whole subordinate to the natural environment. Native trees and undergrowth should be retained to the maximum extent possible.
  4. Blur the boundaries between buildings and the surrounding bush.
  5. Encourage residents to use native vegetation to soften the visual impact of dwellings from the beach, whilst retaining sea views.
  6. Actively pursue a greater balance between retention of native vegetation and bushland character, on the one hand, and bushfire hazard reduction on the other.
  7. New developments (including major extensions) should be required to submit a landscape plan to maintain the existing bush character of the hamlet.
  8. Ideally native vegetation should be used and the removal of invasive plant species should be encouraged.
  9. Access to the beach should remain as narrow tracks for foot traffic only.
  10. Retain public roads as close to bush tracks as possible.
  11. Avoid heavy duty footpaths alongside public roads but to increase pedestrian safety establish public calming devices of a bush like character
  12. Where possible in any future development, wires along public roads for electricity and telephone services should be placed underground. Native vegetation, local to the area, should be replanted in the wire corridor.
  13. Where the existing surrounding private land has a natural bushland character, its retention should be maintained.
  14. Any development of the land to the west of George Bass Drive should retain a bushland character free of commercial development.
  15. Support the Rosedale community to foster their involvement in the maintenance of the natural landscape.

Buildings

  1. Buildings should have a coastal bushland not a city suburban character.
  2. Buildings should be sensitive in scale to existing buildings and respect the amenity of their neighbours.
  3. Buildings should have a modest scale. They should ‘retreat’ into the bush, not ‘advance’.
  4. Sustainable development principles, particularly the use of solar passive design, the minimal use of fossil fuels and water efficiency, should be the main criteria for all new dwellings.
  5. Construction materials which blend the building into the bush should be encouraged.
  6. Verandas and decks which soften and humanise a buildings should be encouraged.
  7. New dwellings and renovations should be encouraged to respect and harmonise with the landscape.

Landscaping

  1. Landscaping is critical in achieving the desired character of the Rosedale hamlet.
  2. Landscaping at Rosedale should be as natural as possible. Ideally what nature put there should be left there and exotic planting discouraged.
  3. Fire protection policies and measures should respect maintenance of the bushland environment including retention of native trees and undergrowth.
  4. If an area needs to be cleared for outdoor living or recreation, or for bushfire protection, it should be as small as practical and have blurred edges. It should look like a natural native grassed clearing in the natural bush.
  5. Paving should be restricted to a minimum, to retain the bushland character and to reduce problems with stormwater.
  6. Residents should maintain their properties so that they regularly remove fire fuel such as ground litter, dead plants, twigs and small branches.
  7. Council should ensure enforcement of its policy for the removal of large and unsafe trees and other vegetation, to ensure a proper balance between safety and maintenance of Rosedale’s bushland character.
  8. Council should retain the requirement under residential zone 2EC for the preparation of a landscape plan for all new development. This is particularly important at Rosedale, where many of the blocks close to the sea are small (600 square metres or less).
  9. Native species of trees and plants, local to the area, should be used where possible to promote the well being and presence of native fauna.

Privacy

  1. Privacy should be created by screens, courtyards and planting rather than by fences.
  2. Fences should generally be discouraged, as they are a very strong element in the determination of character. Fences could easily change Rosedale’s bush settlement character into that of a city suburb.
  3. If, for practical reasons, a fence is required, it should be as short and as low in height as possible and preferably a post and wire type.

Bushfire Protection

  1. Bushfires are unavoidable in the Australian environment and are fundamental to sustaining many of our natural ecosystems. We cannot prevent them, but we can minimise the risks they pose to life, property, infrastructure and the environment.
  2. Bushfire is a threat to Rosedale’s character not simply because of its danger to valuable dwelling assets, but because of the threat fire poses to fauna and wildlife habitat.
  3. There needs to be a better balance between fire control and the environment. Currently the balance lies with state bushfire authorities, who can override council landscape officers and order the removal of all trees as part of development approvals, whether or not the removal breaches environmental guidelines or 2EC planning processes. Removal of trees causes great loss in environmental quality.
  4. The most important contribution residents can make to bushfire control is the removal around their dwellings of any fuel litter, such as ground litter, dead plants, twigs and small branches.
  5. The asset protection zone required for any new development should be as small as practical and not be used as an excuse to eradicate bushland.
  6. Consider the installation of water tanks, pumps and hoses.
  7. The Rosedale community would value Council support in developing policy and guidelines to protect their bushland coastal hamlet in the event of bushfire. Residents need to know what preventative measures they should take, and in the event of fire, the guidelines for ‘stay and defend’, or ‘leave early’
  8. Council should develop an assessment and compliance policy to ensure residents comply with fire prevention guidelines.