Planning in Victoria has undergone significant change and reform involving the introduction of the Victoria Planning Provisions and New Format Planning Schemes. While the planning reform program has had many positive outcomes, it has also increased the number and complexity of permit applications and increased the focus on strategic planning, often leading to resourcing difficulties at many councils.
Combined with this, increasing community expectations about involvement in the development of planning policy and the consideration of permit applications have placed increased demands on the planning resources available to councils. The high levels of development activity over recent years have also exacerbated this situation. As a consequence, the time taken to process applications has increased and most Councils have periodically had difficulty in attracting and retaining adequate numbers of experienced staff. These issues are endemic to the planning system and affect all Councils to varying degrees.
Nevertheless, it is also true that many Councils are yet to fully embrace the performance-based approach to planning required by the planning reform process and the Victoria Planning Provisions. This is often reflected in poor permit application assessment practices, as well as inadequate management processes and expectations.
The 2008 report by the Auditor-General (Victoria’s Planning Framework for Land Use and Development) found that:
‘…Victoria’s framework for controlling land use and development is sound. However, some elements of planning schemes have become overly complex and unclear, and Council’s need to improve their overall management and oversight of associated statutory processes.’
The Auditor-General also identified that:
‘… a number of opportunities exist for improvement at the local council level. Principal among these is the need for councils to enhance the standard and rigour of their assessment of planning permit applications and the level of scrutiny by senior planning staff of planning activities.’ |
