1. What’s a Planning Scheme?
2. What’s a planning permit?

1. Is my property zoned?
2. Is my property affected by an overlay?
3. How many units can I fit on my property?

1. Do I need a planning permit?
2. What’s needed for a planning application?
3. How much will my planning application cost?

1. What’s a Request for Further Information
2. Will my application be advertised?
3. How long will my planning application take?

1. Can I lodge an objection to a planning application?
2. What can I object to?
3. What happens if an objection is received to my planning application?

1. What can I do if the Local Council approves a planning application that I’ve objected to?
2. What can I do if the Local Council refuses my planning application?
3. What can I do if my Planning Permit contains conditions that I’m unhappy with?

1. Can I make changes after I’ve lodged my planning application?
2. Can I amend my plans after I’ve received my planning permit?

1. What is VCAT?
2. Can I lodge an appeal at VCAT?
3. How do I lodge an appeal at VCAT?
4. How much does a VCAT appeal cost?

Frequently asked general planning questions

• A Planning Scheme is a legal document within every Victorian Local Council which controls land use and development within each Local Council area.
• Your Local Council Planning Scheme contains written information on all Victorian State and local planning policies, zones, overlay controls and other requirements which affect how land within your Local Council area may be developed and used.
• Your Local Council Planning Scheme also contains a set of Maps that show the Zones and Overlay Controls that apply to all land within your Local Council area, including your property.
• Your Local Council Planning Scheme will dictate whether you require a Planning Permit to change the use of your property, to construct a building or carry out works or to make other changes to your land.

Frequently asked property questions

• All land within Victoria is zoned for particular uses.
• Your Local Council Planning Scheme contains the zones for all the land in your Local Council area, including your property.
• Typical zones include residential, industrial, commercial, business, open space and others.
• Each different zone shown in your Local Council Planning Scheme contains separate purposes and requirements that describe whether you will require a Planning Permit to use, subdivide or develop your property.
• Each different zone shown in your Local Council Planning Scheme contains a Land Use Control Table that outlines a variety of land uses in 3 sections as:
  

  Section1 Uses:	Land uses that do not require a Planning Permit
  Section 2 Uses:	Land uses that require a Planning Permit
  Section 3 Uses:	Prohibited uses

• Not all land has an Overlay affecting it.
• More than one overlay may affect a property.
• Your Local Council Planning Scheme will show if your property has an Overlay as well as a zone affecting it.
• Typical overlays include Heritage Overlays, Significant Vegetation Overlays, Flood Prone Overlays, Design and Development Overlays and others.
• The written information to the Overlay affecting your property indicates whether you will require a Planning Permit to construct a building or undertake other changes to your property.

• Contrary to popular belief, this is not a simple question to answer and there is no set rule to apply to a property’s area to then determine how many units can be fitted onto the property.
• The shape, orientation and slope of your property and any other site specific features that may prevent development must be firstly acknowledged.

• In addition to the above your Local Council will most probably also have local planning policies that include specific planning controls for your Local Council area that may well include additional requirements that control development and potentially limit the number of units allowed on your property.
• There is no easy answer to the number of units you can fit on your property until you take all of the above factors into consideration and it is highly recommended that you engage the services of a professional town planning consultant to be certain.

Frequently asked questions about lodging a planning application

• Your property is Zoned and may be affected by an Overlay which contains requirements that outline whether you will require a Planning Permit to use, subdivide, develop or undertake works to your land.
• Depending upon the nature of your proposal, you may be required to lodge an Application for Planning Permit at your Local Council Town Planning Department.
• A Planning Permit is a legal document that then gives you permission to develop or use your land.

• If you need a Planning Permit for your proposal, then you should firstly:

• Carefully review the controls of the zone and overlays affecting your property against your proposal to know everything that’s required
• Talk to your Local Council Planner
• Decide whether you require professional help (example: town planning consultant) to prepare and lodge the application

• Depending upon the nature of your proposal, it is important to remember that most planning permit applications should be supported with the following minimal information:

• Application for Planning Permit Form
     - completed and signed with owner’s consent
• Planning Application Fee
     - depending upon the cost of development or proposed use
  
• Copy of Certificate of Title
     - current and no older than 30 days
• Proposal Description Report
     - clearly describing what you want the permit for
• Plans
     - minimum of 3 full sets of plans and elevations to scale
• Other Information
     - additional particular information may also be required for certain types of planning permit applications

• Your Local Council Town Planning Department will have a series of Checklists for different types of planning permit applications, generally including residential applications, industrial applications, commercial and business applications, advertising signage applications, car parking waiver applications and subdivision applications.
• The Checklist that applies to your type of proposal will outline all the specific information that you must lodge with and in support of your planning permit application at your Local Council.

• Each Victorian Local Council has a Schedule of Planning Application Fees which will include a relevant planning fee that you are required to pay when lodging a planning application at your Local Council.
• The Local Council’s Schedule of Planning Fees is derived from the Planning and Environment (Fees) Regulations, 2000.
• The planning application fee that you are required to pay to your Local Council will depend on the nature of your planning application and whether it is for use or development and it will also depend upon the cost of your proposed development.
• There is a sliding scale of fees applied to a range of developments and you must firstly realistically estimate how much your proposed development will cost and then you can determine what the relevant planning application fee will be.

Frequently asked questions after a planning application has been lodged

• After you lodge your application, your Local Council may send you a letter requesting more information before they will proceed with processing your application.
• The Request for Further Information Letter will include an important date for which the additional information is required to be returned to the Local Council.
• If the additional information is not returned by the date shown on the letter then your application will lapse and you will need to lodge a new application.
• If you are having difficulty with meeting the time frame, you can make a request for an extension of time to your Local Council.

• After you lodge your planning permit application, your Local Council will decide on whether your application will be advertised or not.
• Your Local Council will decide on whether they consider people will or will not be affected by the planning decision from your proposal.
• If your Local Council considers your proposal will not cause material detriment to any person or have a negative impact your application will not be advertised.
• If your Local Council considers your proposal has the potential to cause material detriment to any person or have a negative impact your application will be required to be advertised.
• When advertising is required your Local Council will notify you in writing to let you know how and to who your application will be advertised.
• Generally, most applications are required to be advertised by way of erecting a Planning Notice on the property for a continuous period of 14 days and by notifying all surrounding landowners and occupiers by registered post.
• Larger applications may also be required to place a Planning Notice Advertisement within the local newspaper.
• Anyone may make a submission to your Local Council about your proposal during the advertising period and the Local Council will accept objections up until the time the application is processed.
• When you finish your advertising for the minimum period specified by your Local Council you will need to then lodge with your Local Council a Statutory Declaration as evidence the advertising has been completed.

• This is not a simple question to answer and time frames for processing planning applications vary from Local Council to Local Council.
• There is no set time limit for your Local Council to make a decision on your planning application.
• There is a ‘prescribed time’ within the Planning and Environment Regulations which outlines that the local Council has 60 days to process your planning application or you can then lodge an appeal at VCAT for an Application for Review for Failure, which is an appeal against your Local Council for failing to make a decision on your planning application within the prescribed time.
• It is very important however to understand that the ‘prescribed time’ as shown in the Regulations also has a set of rules about when the ‘prescribed time’ stops and starts again which may influence the overall timing of your planning application.
• There are a range of elements involved with the consideration and processing of your planning application by your Local Council that can affect the ‘prescribed time’, including

• Your Local Council has 28 days to respond to you after you’ve lodged your planning application to request further information about your application.
• If your Local Council makes a Request for Further Information then the clock goes back to zero from the time when the further information is received by your Local Council.
• Depending upon the nature of your planning application or the location of your property, the Local Council may have to refer your application to an External Referral Authority which may include Melbourne Water, State Government planning departments, Vic Roads and the like.
• An External Referral Authority has 21 days to respond to your Local Council to request more information about your application and 28 days to respond to your Local Council and the Local Council cannot make a decision on your planning application until the 28 days have expired.
• If the Local Council has externally referred your planning application, then the clock stops and then starts again at the end of the 28 day referral period.
• The Local Council Planning Department may also have to internally refer your application to other Local Council Departments including the Building, Engineering or Strategic Planning Departments.
• The Local Council Planning Department cannot proceed with processing your application until a 28 day period has expired within which the other Local Council Departments have the opportunity to respond.
• The Local Council Planning Department may require that your application be advertised by way of giving planning notice to surrounding property owners and occupiers by registered mail, erecting a sign on your property or by placing a planning advertising notice within a local newspaper circulating within the area.
• If your planning application is advertised, the Local Council cannot make a decision on your application until a minimum 14 day period from when the planning notice was sent out and your Local Council can extend the advertising period if it desires.
• If the Local Council has advertised your planning application, then the clock stops and then starts again at the end of the minimum 14 day advertising period.
• If your planning application has been advertised and there have been a considerable number of objections received then the Local Council may require a consultation or mediation meeting between yourself as the applicant and the objectors to discuss areas of concern and potential ways of overcoming the grounds of objection.
• Generally, should a consultation or mediation meeting be required the Local Council will not proceed with processing your application until the meeting has taken place given the outcome of the meeting may well result in changes to the original application.
• Many Local Councils have a policy whereby if there are a certain number of objections received to a planning application, usually around 5 objections, then that planning application must be decided at a full Council Meeting and not within or by the Local Council’s Planning Department as delegated authority.
• Local Council Meetings generally occur only once a month and it is not always possible for all planning applications to be considered and decided upon at any one meeting and your planning application may be postponed for consideration until the following monthly Local Council Meeting.

• In addition to the above factors that all have an influence upon the timing of your planning application it is also important to acknowledge that your Local Council Planning Department may be under additional significant pressure to process planning applications within the ‘prescribed time’ as a result of short staffing, inexperienced planning staff, higher levels of applications being lodged or a range of other unexpected problems.
  
  It is not uncommon for a Local Council Town Planner to be working on up to 50 planning applications at any one time and having to try to process all applications within the ‘prescribed time’ limits.
  
  Your Local Council Town Planner is after all only human and often the processing of a planning application simply has to ‘wait its turn’ until the applications that were lodged before it have been processed and decided upon. This is a frustrating but unavoidable situation and is commonly accepted within the Victorian development industry.

Frequently asked questions about objections

• If you have a reasonable concern about a planning application at your Local Council you can lodge an objection with the Local Council, recommended during the advertising period.
• Anyone can lodge an objection to a Local Council, even if you have not received planning notice from the Local Council, up to the time the final decision is made about a planning application.
• You should check with your Local Council about the planning application you are concerned about and whether your grounds of objection are considered valid and reasonable.
• Most Local Councils have a standard Objection Form.
• Once you lodge an objection it becomes a public document contained in the Local Council’s planning file and is made available to all other parties.
• If you lodge an objection with your Local Council against a planning application you then secure the right to lodge an Application for Review (appeal) at VCAT against the Local Council should it decide to support the planning application and issue a Notice of Decision to Grant a Permit.

• You should only object to a planning application if you have a reasonable concern about the outcome of the application.
• You should check with your Local Council about the planning application you are concerned about and whether your grounds of objection are considered valid and reasonable.
• If you lodge an objection with your Local Council against a planning application your grounds of objection should be relevant to the planning application and how it unduly impacts upon you or the character of your neighbourhood.
• General common grounds of objection include

• Out of character with the established character of the neighbourhood
• Use is not appropriate in the locale
• Height and excessive building bulk
• Overshadowing to habitable room windows and private open space
• Overlooking and loss of privacy
• Insufficient on-site car parking and resultant impact upon street parking
• Inappropriate vehicular access arrangements and resultant traffic safety impacts

• If you lodge an objection with your Local Council against a planning application that contains grounds of objection that do not relate to the planning application or cannot be justified or proven, the Local Council will dismiss the objection as non-valid.

• Most objections are received during the advertising period.
• Anyone can lodge an objection to your Local Council up to the time the final decision is made about your application.
• You should check with your Local Council at the end of the advertising period to see if any objections have been received.
• If an objection has been lodged you should meet with your Local Council’s Planning Department to discuss the grounds of objection and the ways of overcoming the concerns about your proposal, such as changing your plans or having a specific condition placed on the Planning Permit.
• If several objections have been lodged then your Local Council will most likely organise a Consultation Meeting with yourself and the objectors to discuss and hopefully resolve the areas of concern that have been raised by the objectors.
• If several objections have been lodged then your planning application will need to go before a full Local Council Meeting to be decided, generally held monthly.
• The Local Council can still support your planning application even if objections have been received but will include conditions on the Planning Permit and may also require your plans to be changed to address the grounds of objection.
• Once an objection has been lodged and your Local Council decides to support your planning application, your Local Council will issue you with a Notice of Decision of Grant a Permit which lasts for a minimum period of 21 days.
• A copy of your Notice of Decision to Grant a Permit will also be sent to all of the objectors and they have the opportunity to lodge an Application for Review (appeal) against the Local Council’s decision at VCAT (Victorian Civil and Administrative Appeals Tribunal) within the 21 day notice period.
• Should an objector lodge an Application for Review (appeal) at VCAT, then the upcoming VCAT Appeal will be between the objector and your Local Council as the Local Council has supported your planning application.
• If your Local Council decides to refuse your planning application based upon the objections received, you will have the opportunity to lodge an Application for Review (appeal) against the Local Council’s decision at VCAT (Victorian Civil and Administrative Appeals Tribunal).

Frequently asked questions about Local Council planning decisions

• If you have lodged an objection with your Local Council against a planning application then you have secured the right to lodge an Application for Review (appeal) at VCAT against the Local Council should it decide to support the planning application and issue a Notice of Decision to Grant a Permit.
• Should the Local Council decide to support the planning application and issue a Notice of Decision to Grant a Permit, you will receive a copy of the notice including instructions on how to proceed with a VCAT appeal.
• You have 21 days to lodge your Application for Review (appeal) at VCAT from the date the Local Council Notice of Decision to Grant a Permit was granted.
• Please understand that your Application for Review (appeal) will be against your Local Council’s Planning Department for supporting the planning application and not the applicant, however the applicant can appear at VCAT to support the proposal.

• If the Local Council refuses your planning application, the objectors and yourself will receive a Refusal to Grant a Permit notice which will include the grounds of refusal.
• As the applicant, you then have 60 days from the date of the Refusal to Grant a Permit notice to lodge an Application for Review (appeal) at VCAT

• If the Local Council issues you a Planning Permit including conditions that you are not happy with or desire to have changed or removed you can lodge an appeal at VCAT to have the conditions of permit reviewed.
• As the applicant, you have 60 days from the date of the Planning Permit or the Notice of Decision to Grant a Permit to lodge an Application for Review of Conditions (appeal) at VCAT.

Frequently asked questions about changing plans and amending planning permits

• You can change your planning application including your plans by making a request to your Local Council Planning Department including the changes.
• You can change your planning application including your plans after the advertising period has expired generally only to address the concerns of objectors or the Local Council Town Planner.
• If you change your planning application including plans after the advertising period has expired and the changes are visible from outside of your property the Local Council Planning Department will most likely make you re-advertise the application with the new changes.
• If the changes you propose to your planning application are significant, such as increasing floor levels or introducing an additional unit, and you make the changes after the advertising period has expired the Local Council will require you to lodge a new planning application.

• When you receive your planning permit you will also receive your set of endorsed plans, which are stamped plans showing your development proposal.
• The endorsed town planning drawings are to be used and followed when preparing the building plans and seeking building approval to construct and there is often the case where the endorsed town planning drawings are later required to be modified to meet certain minimum building standards.
• If you want to change your endorsed plans and the changes are relatively minor and do not conflict with the wording and intent of the conditions to the planning permit or will not result in any increase in impact upon amenity levels to adjoining and surrounding properties, the Local Council can accept and process your request as a minor amendment to the planning permit.
• If you want to change your endorsed plans and the changes are significant and detract from the original wording and intent of the conditions to the planning permit or will be visible and have the potential to increase impact upon amenity levels of adjoining and surrounding properties, the Local Council will require that you lodge a new planning application.

Frequently asked questions about VCAT

• The Victorian Civil and Administrative Appeals Tribunal (VCAT) is a legal court system that independently reviews decisions made by Local Councils about planning applications and other planning matters.
• VCAT reviews and assesses appeals about Local Council planning decisions and considers submissions from all parties and then makes its decision on whether a Planning Permit should be granted and what conditions of permit are appropriate.
• An appeal at VCAT is referred to as an Application for Review.
• A VCAT decision is generally final and overrides the Local Council decision unless the matter is pursued to a higher court.

• The following persons are able to lodge an appeal at VCAT in response to a Local Council decision on a planning application:

• 1. The Applicant
  

  -	Can appeal against the Local Council’s Refusal of the Planning Permit
  -	Can appeal against Conditions of Permit included on the Planning Permit
  -	Can appeal against the Local Council’s failure to make a decision on the Planning Permit within the prescribed time

• 2. Objectors
  

  -	Can appeal against the Local Council’s Decision to Grant the Planning Permit

• There are also other less common types of appeals at VCAT, so if you don’t ‘fit into’ the above please contact VCAT for further information.

• If you are the applicant or an objector to a planning application, you will receive a planning notice from your Local Council after the decision has been made about the planning application. The planning notice contains general information that informs you how to proceed to VCAT should you want to pursue an appeal against the Local Council’s decision.
• There is a standard form for making an Application for Review (appeal) at VCAT which you must complete and lodge with VCAT within 21 days if you’re and objector or within 60 days if you’re the applicant (refer below).
• The standard VCAT Application for Review Form requires you to provide a short statement of the grounds in support of your appeal to outline your position and explain the reasons for your appeal.
• After you have submitted your form, VCAT will then contact you and all other parties (Local Council, applicant and objectors) to advise of any further information required or about an upcoming hearing or mediation date.
• It’s important to know that VCAT have made Practice Notes to help you understand its processes and procedures and it is highly recommended that you read these notes before proceeding with any appeal.
• You can seek representation at your VCAT hearing from a planning consultant, solicitor or barrister or you can represent yourself and present your own submission.

• There are filing and administrative (photocopying, etc) fees that are required to be paid to VCAT when lodging your appeal.
• VCAT filing and administrative fees are generally not expensive and are designed to allow the applicant and/or objectors that may be affected by a Local Council decision to a planning application have the opportunity to make a representation at a hearing.
• VCAT filing and administrative fees vary according to the type of appeal and the Act under which the Application for Review (appeal) is made.
• VCAT appeals against a decision made by a Local Council to a planning application are under the Planning and Environment Act 1987.
• If you’re an applicant and want to lodge an appeal against the Local Council’s decision to refuse your planning application or against conditions included in your planning permit, the VCAT filing and administrative fees are generally around $300.
• If you’re an objector and want to lodge an appeal against the Local Council’s decision to approve a planning application that you have objected to, the VCAT filing and administrative fees are generally around $300.
• If you’re an objector and want to support your Local Council’s decision to refuse a planning application or to include specific conditions on the permit to a planning application that you have objected to, then there is no fee to attend and make a representation in support of your Local Council at the VCAT hearing.
• If you represent yourself at a VCAT hearing, any additional costs will be restricted to your preparation of material to be presented at the hearing.
• If you seek professional assistance at a VCAT hearing, additional costs will be incurred for the employment of either a town planning consultant, solicitor or barrister to prepare and present your appeal on your behalf at the hearing.

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We have invested significant amounts of research and time coupled with several years of Local Council and private enterprise planning experience when providing the general answers to the frequently asked questions.

The general answers are designed and aimed at ensuring that all relevant information and advice is accurate and current, particularly in terms of content and timing.

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