Blog

December 11, 2014

Posted at 11:15h in Planning Process, VCAT

In recent months the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) have introduced some new processes.  Two that are of particular interest are the change in the Notice of Decision process and an increased likelihood that Councils will have to reimburse applicants fees for failure hearings. New Process...

November 18, 2014

Posted at 13:22h in Uncategorized

What many restaurants, cafes and other eateries that want to serve alcohol on their premises don’t know is that obtaining a liquor licence is a two-step process. First, they need to get a planning permit from the Council before applying for a liquor licence from...

October 15, 2014

Posted at 11:14h in Uncategorized

At Change of Plan, I've had a lot of people ask me why they run into trouble when they put in a planning application to build an extra unit or house on a block of land that has a separately approved garage/carport in the frontage. Recently,...

September 12, 2014

Posted at 15:18h in Housing

On the 31st of July the State Government introduced changes to the bushfire planning regulations to give greater certainty to landowners in bushfire prone areas. The key changes include: Greater certainty to build, extend or replace a dwelling in land that has a residentially focused zoning...

September 08, 2014

Posted at 17:25h in Planning Process

VicSmart is a new permit process for straightforward and simple town planning applications. This new initiative from the Victorian Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure aims to create a fast and streamlined process for a range of uncomplicated town planning applications. It will be...