Uncategorized

November 30, 2023

Understanding Sustainable Design Assessments for Town Planning Applications

Posted at 09:57h in Uncategorized

The latest Council to introduce a mandatory requirement for Sustainable Design Assessments (SDAs) for multi dwelling applications is Bayside Council. Many local councils now have these policies and so I thought it would be good to explain SDAs in more detail. You can...

November 21, 2022

I Wish I Had Met a Town Planner Earlier

Posted at 14:28h in Uncategorized

It seems that almost every time I tell people what I do for a living someone says that they wish they had heard of me/met me/knew about me before. I’m a Town Planner and I help people get planning permission from the Local Council for...

October 25, 2022

Liquor Licence Applications

Posted at 14:45h in Uncategorized

Did you know that before you can get a liquor licence for your new bar or restaurant, first you will need a planning permit? This includes if you want to extend the hours or patrons on an existing liquor licence as well. Many Councils have local...

August 30, 2021

Proposed Planning Scheme Amendment For Housing In Mornington Peninsula

Posted at 10:22h in Uncategorized

The Mornington Peninsula Shire have released their proposed housing planning scheme amendment (C219) out for public exhibition and comment. Over recent times Mornington Peninsula Shire has made a number of controversial planning decisions, which you can read more about here. Last year the...

February 25, 2019

Protecting Solar Panels From Overshadowing

Posted at 22:40h in Planning Controls, Planning Policy, Uncategorized

Late last year a new planning control was introduced into planning schemes to provide protection for existing residential solar panels. New developments in or abutting residential areas are now required to consider any overshadowing impacts they may have on adjoining solar panels. Guidelines for Decision...

February 04, 2019

Casey Council Seeking to Update Their Housing Policy

Posted at 06:14h in Planning Policy, Uncategorized

This Amendment is seeking to implement the Housing Strategy, specifically to differentiate the preferred location, diversity and built form of housing in the established areas of the municipality. The Housing Strategy identifies substantial, incremental and minimal change areas. The Amendment C198 seeks to implement the...

February 25, 2015

Bayside City Council have been seeking Amendments

Posted at 11:13h in Planning Process, Uncategorized

Recently the Bayside City Council have been seeking Amendments to three activity centres to introduce mandatory height limits. The amendments and public submissions received have been reviewed by an independent Panel and the Panel Report has just been released. The three activity centres are: Sandringham Village;...

November 18, 2014

Liquor Licence Case Study: Inca Gourmet Chelsea

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

Issues with Existing Carports or Garages

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,...

June 30, 2014

Imitation in Business

Posted at 15:58h in Uncategorized

I went to a networking event recently and one of the topics that was discussed was around imitation in a business sense, whether it is of a new idea or product that we have created. There are many ways that the development industry can be impacted...