Author: melanie.ellis@changeofplan.com.au

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...

One of the critical factors in the success of a planning project, is choosing the right team. One of the most important people to achieve your vision is the designer.  I have worked on many different projects and seen projects struggle due to dynamics between the...

Bayside Council have just started a new structure plan project for the area adjacent to Southland Shopping Centre.  The first stage involves background research and initial input from the community about the area.  They are looking for feedback on both the current issues of the...

The Minister for Planning has refused three of Bayside Council's recent planning scheme amendments. Amendments C113, C114 and C115 were proposing to introduce mandatory maximum height controls within the Sandringham, Church Street and Bay Street activity centres. In January 2015 the Planning Panel appointed to consider...

As part of the Government's plan to reform town planning, the Residential Zones were amended recently.  The changes flow from the review of the residential zones that were started in November 2015.  Whoever said that planning doesn't move fast?! Summary of Changes Transitional provisions have been introduced...

There has recently been a change to the requirement for a Cultural Heritage Management Plan (CHMP) that will assist with many small developments. Previously the main exemptions from requiring a CHMP related to developments of two or less dwellings, or subdivision of an existing building. but now...

** Update: The new planning fees have now been introduced and came into affect on the 13th October 2016.  More details are available here ** The State Government has been reviewing the Planning and Subdivision Fees that are payable when lodging a planning or subdivision application....

A recent VCAT (Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal) decision has confirmed the limit of issues to be considered when making a decision on some types of planning applications. In determining a recent appeal, the Tribunal member first ascertained the scope of issues that could be considered....