A refusal is not the end — and neither is a council decision to grant. We appear regularly at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and before Planning Panels Victoria, on both sides of the table. For applicants: expert evidence, cross-examination, condition negotiation and compulsory conferences. For objectors: section 82 reviews of a council's decision to grant a permit, objections framed to survive the revised Clause 55's deemed-to-comply regime, and practice-day defence when a developer moves to have your review confined or summarily dismissed. Under the new rules, whether an objector's concerns are heard at all can turn on how they were framed from day one — we audit the advertised plans' compliance tables, raise actual-compliance questions the Tribunal can entertain, and identify the overlay triggers that carry independent review rights.
What's included
- Review of refusal grounds and objection themes
- Expert planning evidence and witness statements
- Objector reviews under section 82 — merits challenges to a decision to grant
- Practice-day submissions defending review scope against deemed-to-comply strike-outs
- Compliance audits of advertised plans — testing the Clause 55 standards the council ticked
- Compulsory conference and mediation advocacy
- Major cases list and standard stream hearings
- Planning Panels Victoria submissions
Ideal for
- Applicants who have received a notice of refusal
- Applicants with significant objections from neighbours or council
- Objectors challenging a council's decision to grant a permit
- Neighbours whose objection a developer is trying to have struck out
- Amendment proponents requiring panel advocacy