Today, the Victorian Government has released the Commissioner’s findings. The Planning and Building Approvals Process Review Discussion Paper represents major wins for everyone who interacts with the planning and building system – from the development industry that’s been at the mercy of costly delays, to councils navigating their way through the convoluted relationship between legislative frameworks. 

UDIA Victoria is proud to have gone above and beyond to ensure the Commissioner and her team were well-briefed throughout their review. We assumed responsibility as lead agency on this work for industry, with advocacy activities including:
– Monthly meetings with the Commissioner;
– Direct briefings, tutorials and workshops with the Commissioner and her team on topics including GAIC, the planning scheme, statutory and non-statutory referrals, the Essential Services Commission review; and
– Site tours to both greenfield and infill sites. 

Our hard work has paid off with the Commissioner’s recommendations reflecting a solid understanding of how red tape has compromised the development industry. Many of the 81 proposed improvements put forward by the Commissioner directly relate to UDIA Victoria advice.  

Key proposals relating to UDIA Victoria advice: 

• Digitising the planning permit application process;
• Developing checklists setting out essential information for planning permit applications;
• That councils should only accept complete applications;
• That draft permit conditions should be circulated to the permit applicant;
• Requiring the regular reporting of Referral Authorities’ performance to the Minister for Planning;
• Reducing response times for referrals by appropriately resourcing the role, and standardising and removing simple referrals;
• Formalising post-permit processes and setting appropriate time-frames for granting approvals;
• Using VCAT’s Short Cases List to hear secondary consent disputes quickly;
• Amend the Electricity Distribution Code to include a performance framework and specific targets for approvals and connections; and
• Achieving a target four week time-frame for processing GAIC staged payment requests.

Consultation for the discussion paper is open until 15 November 2019 ahead of a final report which will be prepared for the Treasurer and Minister for Planning in the coming months.

On behalf of UDIA Victoria and our members, chief executive Danni Hunter has spoken to Virginia Trioli on ABC Radio Melbourne Mornings, commending the work done to date through the red tape review and explaining its benefits to the general public. Listen to the audio here.