Broadly speaking the draft planning controls will increase the protection of flora and fauna in Harcourt and will:

• Protect plant and animal species identified as significant and identifying ‘habitat corridors’, along roadside and waterways in Harcourt.
• Correctly apply the Environmental Significance Overlay and Vegetation Protection Overlays on land in the Harcourt township.
• Rezone land to Rural Conservation to protect larger areas of significance.
• Revise the township boundary to account for the findings in the Strategic Biodiversity Assessment.

The proposed planning controls will apply to public and private land in Harcourt.

Council estimates that there are up to a few dozen private properties that will be potentially impacted. Check to see if your property is affected.

The draft planning controls mostly apply environmental overlays to road reserves and public land, but up to a few dozen properties will be potentially impacted.

For council, this means - road reserves and public land under their management.

For land owners this means – either restrictions around the unnecessary removal of the identified large, significant trees, or restrictions around carrying out works that may damage our waterway systems or significant habitat.