Best and Worst Council’s to Work With.

The results are in. The Planning Permit Activity Statement, published earlier this year by DPCD, makes interesting reading for developers and architects trying to identify the Municipalities that are easiest to work in.

The report is compiled using information extracted from the planning register for each council and planning appeals recorded at VCAT for the 2010/11 reporting year.

Here are some of the more interesting state wide findings:

  • State wide more than 57,000 planning applications were lodged, up 2.5% on the 2009/2010 reporting year.
  • The strongest growth occurred in the inner and central urban metropolitan Melbourne area, which experienced a 9% increase in the number of applications compared to last reporting year.
  • Throughout the reporting period more than 49,000 permit applications were decided.
  • On average only 4% of outcomes were formal refusals.
  • Within Metropolitan Melbourne, the average planning permit application took 138 days to be decided by a Responsible Authority. This is slightly worse than the 117 day average timeframe reported for 2009/2010.
  • State-wide, 7% of all applications were appealed to VCAT.
  • VCAT experienced a 13% increase in the number of cases received compared to last reporting year, with more than 3700 applications appealed.
  • Municipalities that experienced the greatest growth in VCAT appeals were; Yarra Ranges SC, Casey CC and Banyule CC with increases of between 20% – 30% compared to last year’s statistics.

The table below illustrates how metropolitan municipalities performed on what could (arguably) be considered key indicators of developer friendliness.

Column 1 Column 2 Column 3
No. of Applications Decided in 12 Month Period Percentage of Applications Decided at VCAT Percentage of Applications Refused
Council Council % Council %
Mornington Pen. 2765 Stonnington 14 Banyule 15
Yarra Ranges 1715 Yarra 14 Gtr. Dandenong 12
Stonington 1388 Port Phillip 14 Whittlesea 10
Boroondara 1386 Glen Eira 14 Bayside 9
Moreland 1348 Bayside 14 Maroondah 8
Yarra 1275 Banyule 13 Boroondara 7
Port Phillip 1273 Boroondara 12 Monash 7
Darebin 1128 Moreland 11 Stonington 6
Knox 1101 M’nee Valley 11 Glen Eira 6
Glen Eira 1071 Monash 10 Hobsons Bay 6
Whitehorse 1070 Whittlesea 10 Whitehorse 6
Melbourne 1062 Darebin 9 Moreland 5
Wyndham 1049 Hobsons Bay 9 Casey 5
Monash 1031 Gtr. Dandenong 9 Frankston 5
Brimbank 992 Melbourne 8 Melton 5
Hume 960 Kingston 8 Brimbank 5
Hobsons Bay 950 Whitehorse 7 Darebin 4
Moonee Valley 914 Casey 7 Mornington Pen 4
Maroondah 906 Maribyrnong 7 Yarra Ranges 4
Kingston 888 Maroondah 6 Yarra 3
Bayside 883 Manningham 6 Port Phillip 3
Manningham 862 Frankston 6 Melbourne 3
Cardinia 843 Mornington Pen 5 Maribyrnong 3
Casey 819 Yarra Ranges 4 Knox 3
Banyule 775 Knox 4 Cardinia 3
Frankston 762 Melton 4 Moonee Valley 2
Gtr. Dandenong 715 Wyndham 3 Kingston 2
Maribyrnong 685 Brimbank 3 Manningham 2
Whittlesea 562 Hume 3 Wyndham 2
Melton 459 Cardinia 3 Hume 2

Of most interest to regular permit applicants should be the Councils named at the very top of Columns 2 and 3. We will leave you to draw your own conclusions (based on your own experience) as to which of these councils is best and worst to work with.

We hope to have further data from VCAT to report on within the next few months.

 

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