Notes from the planning coalface.
Scheme changes, VCAT decisions, and practical planning strategy — written by the planners actually running the matters.
For building surveyors: what happens after you say 'that needs report and consent'
The siting non-compliance is easy to identify — it's the next six weeks that stall your permit, strain the client, and occasionally land back on your desk as a complaint. How the referral works when it works well, and the 30-day trap your clients keep walking into.
Clause 57 Mid-Rise Code: What It Means for Your 4–6 Storey Project
Victoria's new Clause 57 Mid-Rise Housing Code changes the planning permit process for 4–6 storey apartment buildings in residential zones. Here's what developers and architects need to understand before they design.
Designing to deemed-to-comply: how townhouse developers can switch off objector appeals before they start
Under the revised Clause 55, meeting every applicable standard doesn't just simplify assessment — for smaller projects it can extinguish third-party review rights entirely. How to design for the exemption, and the knife-edge compliance mistakes that hand it back to objectors.
Deemed to comply: the new rules developers use to throw objections out — and how to object so yours survives
Under the revised Clause 55, a met standard closes the argument — and for smaller townhouse projects, meeting all the standards can extinguish review rights altogether. From a current Tribunal fight: how developers weaponise it, and how properly framed objections stay alive.
How to write an objection that counts: proper planning grounds, not just protest
Councils must weigh objections made on planning grounds — and can lawfully disregard the rest. The anatomy of a professional objection, from a matter we lodged this week: targeted grounds, quantified breaches, and the applicant's own documents doing the heavy lifting.
Taking a report and consent refusal to the Building Appeals Board: how the appeal actually works
The Board hears your garage or carport case afresh, isn't bound by the council's reasons — or by the Minister's guidelines. What goes into a section 144 appeal, and what wins regulation 74 street-setback cases.
Council refused your garage or carport? A 30-day clock started — and most owners don't know it's running
Report and consent refusals under regulation 74 come with a 30-day appeal window to the Building Appeals Board. Two matters that reached us in the same week show what changes when you act inside it — and what's left when you don't.
Who pays for a protection works fight? The costs asymmetry nobody warns you about
Consultant fees are recoverable, padded claims get slashed, and almost nobody gets their hearing costs back. What the Building Appeals Board's costs decisions actually say — from a firm that has run these fights on both sides.
Victoria's Mid-Rise Housing Code: What Changes from April 2026
The new Victorian Mid-Rise Housing Code takes effect on 16 April 2026, introducing a dedicated planning pathway for four-to-six storey residential buildings. Here is what developers and architects need to understand before lodging a permit application.
VCAT appeals — when to fight, and when to re-apply
A refusal notice is not the end of the road, but an appeal isn't always the right response. A practical guide to the three forks in the road after a refusal.
Dual occupancy in Victoria — what the new Townhouse and Low-rise Code means for your project
Amendment VC267 rewrote Clause 55 from the ground up. For dual-occupancy sites, the deemed-to-comply pathway changes both the design brief and the risk profile.
Solar farms in Victoria — choosing the right approvals pathway
Solar farm planning in Victoria sits across several possible pathways depending on scale and strategy. Choosing the right one at the start saves months.
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