FAQs

Open Space includes various areas such as parks, gardens, football fields and general open recreation areas. For this strategy, the open space referred to is public, meaning that it is to do with areas that are always available for use by the general public. 

A Development Contribution Plan or a DCP is a planning mechanism used by Councils to fund payments, acquisition of land or works-in-kind towards providing necessary infrastructure required from new developments. The funds for the DCP are gained through levies or requirements on landowners and developers in the areas of change.  

The types of infrastructure that a DCP can support includes upgraded or new, roads, open space, and drainage systems – in this case, the DCP is being used to support open space land and infrastructure provision. The point of the DCP is to ensure that when areas are being developed that the public infrastructure that is needed to support the area and create a better quality of life for the user and wider community, it is paid for by the developers.  

The Development Contribution Plan levies are contributed to by the proponent of the new development that has a DCP applying to the parcel of land. The contributions can only be used by council for providing local infrastructure for the community open spaces being created. 

For a Development Contribution Plan to be enacted the planning authority (Council) identifies any areas where a particular DCP would be appropriate. For a DCP to be enforced and for contribution to be collected, a Development Contribution Plan Overlay (DCPO) must be created with clear information and proposed costing for the infrastructure that the DCP pays for. The DCP must be justified as part of a clear strategy, that balances supporting necessary development while also making sure the required infrastructure is provided. There needs to be a clear time frame for when the DCP will come into effect, be used and when it ends.

Mansfield Shire Council has the authority to use a DCP through the Planning and Environment Act 1987. DCPOs need to be put into the planning scheme for a DCP to be enacted. Council can propose a DCPO and use the funds gained from it, however the Minister for Planning must approve any DCPO being put into the planning scheme in the first instance. The state government oversees the mechanism to collect the funds from DCP by Council.

DCP’s are not designed for use for areas that are seeing minor change brought on by gradual development or areas where the development change is very gradual over many decades. 

Mansfield Township has many parks and gardens enjoyed by its residents, tourists, students, and many other users. But as Mansfield grows, so does the number of people using Open Space – to keep that space beautiful and usable, we need new spaces and improvement of existing open spaces to accommodate more people and provide accessibility to these spaces for all residents. 

The strategy reviews current open space throughout the town and identifies where there is less open space, and where it will be needed in the future. This is done by reviewing future growth areas and locations where there are plenty of residents, but little infrastructure and insufficient open space – this strategy aims to solve that problem.

As part of the Open Space Strategy, it was identified that in order to provide adequate levels of quality open spaces as the shire grows it will require additional pathways and improvements more broadly than on the land that is being developed. To achieve this in the most efficient way for funding, a DCP has been proposed. The proposed DCP is to ensure that the open space in the shire keeps up with projected population growth, with the DCP is the best system to fairly acquire the land for open space.  

Mansfield township already has a diverse and beautiful open space, from Mansfield Botanical Park to Lords Oval. There are opportunities offered to increase the mix of open space types in the Mansfield township as the population increases. While the exact form of any area of open space to be introduced into Mansfield township will depend on what areas of new open space are created there will be a range of different types of open spaces. The types of open space that the new open space could take include: 

• Passive Recreation Open Space 
• Active Open Space for Public Sport and recreation 
• Biodiversity Conservation Open Space  
• Heritage Open Space  
• Ancillary Open Space

The Mansfield Open Spaces Strategy sees new public parks being proposed for Mansfield township. The need for new open spaces is due to the increased population within the Township and the improvement of existing areas for existing and future communities. To cater for growth pressures on the township, many of these proposed new open spaces are in areas of increased density. These areas of open space can be seen in the diagram below.  

Some new open space is already planned, but others may depend on how Mansfield township grows in order to determine the exact location and type of open space. Regardless of the exact location or purpose of these new spaces, the Mansfield Open Space Strategy aims to keep the areas within reasonable access of no more than 400-meter radius for each catchment between open spaces to ensure easy access to open spaces for the community.  

Locations included are areas to have a DCPO of high development led change. These areas mainly focus on new developments around the Mansfield township, being the areas identified for a Land Based Contributions being included in the DCPO (Below in pink). All other properties that are developed will be subject to a 5% cash public open space contribution that will be used to repay developers for land provision above the required 5%. This means that if a parcel of land has 10% of the site identified for open space land provision, the funds raised from other cash contributions would be used to pay for the additional 5% of the area. 

The Mansfield Opens Space Strategy seeks to not just achieve quality open spaces for our growing community, but also to create connections between diverse types of open spaces that a deliver an improved holistic network. These connections are shown in the draft Strategy, and display different measures aimed to enhance connections between open space. The strategy recognises that the community and a range of local groups require various land uses types depending on their needs, such as a sporting ovals or landscaped gardens, just for two examples.  

Mansfield township already has a variety of different open space types, and the strategy will increase these. By offering improved connections for both existing and proposed spaces, accessibility for the community will be improved for richer experiences in the outdoors and improve the overall health and wellbeing of our communities.  

The locations for these connections will follow a path that best facilitate travel between space in a safe manner. These might be road/footpath connections or also follow natural scenic routes, such as along waterways. The Mansfield Open Space Strategy seeks to have open spaces serving a 400-meter radius. By keeping the distance manageable between public open space for users as well as making the connections inviting to users, the Mansfield Open Space Strategy hopes to encourage greater utilisation and access of open space in the township for the community