A recent report released by the Victorian Planning Authority, provides interesting insight into the workings & efficiency of Victoria’s growth-area Councils. The overview contained in the report states:
In recent years, the State government has unlocked substantial areas of Melbourne’s growth areas for development, via the Precinct Structure Planning (PSP) process. However, despite land being zoned for development there remain significant delays in development processing. While these delays have a number of causes, this project has been designed to specifically target capacity constraints and delays associated with the growth area planning permit assessment process.
The research undertaken by Mesh Planning looks at all seven growth area Councils; Casey, Cardinia, Hume, Melton, Mitchell, Whittlesea and Wyndham and benchmarks them on key performance indicators that influence the planning process and decision timeframes including:
- The scale of growth they are experiencing;
- Their maturity and experience in this space;
- Internal and external communication and culture;
- Processing timeframes
- Adaptability and risk aversion
- Staffing and technical resources
The report highlights where Councils are performing well and provides recommendations where improvement can be made. Clause 1 applauds this open and transparent approach to measuring Council’s performance and seeking to provide meaningful ways to improve the timeframes taken to determine applications. Unfortunately, this research only looked at ‘growth area’ planning permit applications. It would be wonderful if the State Government could extent this sort of research to cover “all” planning permit applications.
The full report can be viewed here:
Seek Professional Advice Information contained in this publication should be considered as a reference only and is not a substitute for professional advice. No liability will be accepted for any loss incurred as a result of relying on the information contained in this publication. Seek professional advice in specific circumstances. Copyright If you would like to reproduce or use for your own purposes any part of this publication please contact enquiries@clause1.com.au for assistance. Clause1 Pty Ltd Phone: 03 9370 9599 Fax: 03 9370 9499 Email: enquiries@clause1.com.au Web: www.clause1.com.au