Author: melanie.ellis@changeofplan.com.au

** Update: The State Government Planning Scheme Amendment has recently been approved.  The changes that have been introduced into the planning schemes include: Use of a property for community care accommodation and rooming houses is now exempt from needing a planning permit under residential and commercial...

The Victorian Planning Provisions has just seen its biggest change since the changes to residential zones a couple of years ago.   The changes have taken most of August to implement online, but the website is fully operational now and we have delved in to explore...

Earlier this year the State Government introduced an amendment to update and streamline parts of planning.  As part of that the particular provision that provides controls for Home Occupations was updated.  These changes have been introduced to support small businesses and provide greater flexibility for...

Recently I was discussing the common Council Contributions that apply to multiple dwelling applications.   One fee that also applies to some development applications is the Metropolitan Planning Levy.  This fee is a little different to the others as it is required to be paid to...

City of Casey have released a draft Structure Plan for the Cranbourne Town Centre for public feedback. The draft document has been created from initial research and public consultation and will be further refined following synthesis of all submissions received. The Structure Plan has been driven from...

A couple of years ago I wrote about a new fast track program that the State Government was introducing called VicSmart.  You can read more about the program here and about what I wrote here. As the program has been going for a while now I...

The Mornington Peninsula Shire have released a draft Housing and Settlement Strategy for public comment. Further details and links to the documents can be found here. The provision of a housing strategy represents a maturing of planning policy within the municipality.  It is this sophistication in...