Author: melanie.ellis@changeofplan.com.au

The basis for existing use rights came about from common law. It is based on the principle that it would be unfair for the planning scheme to change and make someone’s use or livelihood suddenly be unlawful. Once an existing use right is...

The short answer is yes, you can apply for an extension of time to your planning permit. Every Council has a process for you to apply to extend your time on a planning permit, either to extend the time to commence or the time...

After a planning permit gets issued how long do you have to act on it?  Make sure you know, as if you forget to watch your time limit you could end up with an expired permit and have to go through the process all over again! There...

Several people have asked me about lodging an application with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) recently so I thought I would provide some information on it from the perspective of the planning applicant. Three common types of applications are: Review a Council RefusalReview conditions placed...

Not sure if a property you own or want to buy in Victoria has a covenant on it? Before you get stuck with something like that I'll cover how you can quickly check the title for that information. Firstly, this is an example of a land...

The Mornington Peninsula Housing Strategy was first adopted in 2017. Since then they have done some additional work on neighbourhood character guidelines as well as attempting to commence a planning scheme amendment. You can read more about the original housing strategy here. Presumably, this refresh of...