Published on 05 January 2024
Northern Grampians Shire Council has simplified the requirements for mid-range developers looking to invest in the shire by increasing the stipulated monetary value for planning applications that necessitate compulsory councillor review and approval.
Councillors will no longer be required to review planning applications for developments valued between five to 15 million dollars, with the responsibility for review delegated to appropriate council staff in instances where there is no Planning Policy implication.
In Victoria, the Planning and Environment Act 1987 provides a framework for land use and development and establishes the duties and function of councils as the responsible authority. The Act provides that certain powers, duties, and functions of a council can be delegated to a Committee of Council or to council officers and, for the purpose of efficiency, all councils have a system of delegation in place that allows officers of a council to make formal decisions on components of planning application.
“Requirements to report to councillors can be inefficient and inconsistent, and the process can unintentionally lead to a non-planning scheme-based approach to decision making. Best practice among councils would suggest that more than 95 percent of applications are dealt with by officers to enable effective and efficient delivery of the statutory planning process,” Mayor of Northern Grampians Shire, Cr Rob Haswell said when addressing the reasoning behind the change in procedure.
“By increasing the value of planning applications required to go through to councillors for approval, we should reduce the number of low-risk applications being drawn out for decision and by doing this we aim to create greater consistency in the regulatory process. This in turn will ideally create greater investor confidence within our municipality and reduce the risk of timeline blow outs and greater reliability in the planning scheme’s application, without comprising on rigorous decision making and exposure to risk,” added Cr Haswell.
The recent changes align with Northern Grampians Shire Council Plan 2021-25 strategies to boost economic growth by building more houses and ensuring that land use policy enables housing investment, to grow local business by encouraging commercial investment in the region, and to improve organisational effectiveness.
Northern Grampians Shire Council retains the ability to call in any application for final decision on matters of particular sensitivity.
For further information contact:
Media & Communications – Lauren Shipman
E-mail: lauren.shipman@ngshire.vic.gov.au