Changing your house design after permit approval is possible with either a Secondary Consent for minor tweaks or a Section 72 Amendment for substantial changes. Here's what to know.

In Victorian town planning, pre-application meetings are often seen as a crucial step in the planning process. These meetings, held with statutory planners, aim to provide early feedback on proposed developments, identify potential issues, and guide applicants through the planning maze.

Following our first piece, we now look at Integrating Pickleball courts into traditional tennis facilities in Australia and the benefits, but also the potential divide this may create between tennis traditionalists, against the emerging and growing number of Pickleball enthusiasts. In my opinion, this convergence of two racquet formats has a range of exciting benefits, and also note some of the common drawbacks. This insight will focus on a range of topics from better land utilisation, a new form of club revenue generation, community interest, and an exciting player experience.

In the dynamic landscape of recreational sports across Australia, there’s a rising star that’s turning heads and that is Pickleball. For those who are just learning about Pickleball, originating in the USA, this fast-paced paddle sport is making waves, and its popularity is soaring across the globe, and the current stop is Australia. As urban planning professionals focused on sports development, it’s crucial for us to explore the trends that reshape our recreational spaces. Today, we delve into the growing phenomenon of Pickleball and how it’s transforming traditional tennis courts into vibrant pickleball venues.

To increase housing choice and address the growing demand for diverse housing options, the Victorian Government has recently introduced measures to streamline the construction of small second homes in residential and rural areas across Victoria.

The Victorian Government's Small Second Dwellings Initiative facilitates the construction of compact, secondary dwellings on existing residential and rural properties. This initiative is designed to create additional housing options for families, cater to changing demographics, and contribute to the overall housing supply.

You may have heard last month the Victorian Government released its eagerly awaited Housing Statement - The Decade Ahead | 2024-2034. In summary, the Housing Statement puts forward an ambitious plan to tackle the root of the problem: housing supply, by setting a bold target to build 800,000 homes in Victoria over the next decade, and is a welcome review of the planning system as the community faces renewed pressures beyond 2023 when it comes to housing.

We get it, the thought of subdividing can be daunting, with questions that spring to mind, do I have enough space, what happens to my existing house, what do I need to do, my neighbour did it so why can’t we?

So in this piece, we want to strip the Victorian subdivision process back and simplify the steps of what is required to get started, allowing you and your family to start the conversation, as to whether this is a potential option for you.

Exploring Australian Housing Trends: Benefits of Multi-Generational Living

We’ve all heard the age-old saying, ‘two heads are better than one’. But what if that could actually apply to home ownership too?

In recent years, Australia has seen a significant increase in the number of multi-generational households. This trend is particularly prevalent in major cities where housing affordability is increasingly challenging, and the cost of living has risen significantly. According to the last Census, one in five Australians lived in a multi-generational household, with this number expected to have increased since then.

A common question we get from prospective clients, builders, architects and owners is ‘Why don’t I just do the planning permit application myself’.

Over the past year we have seen a number of development and design trends emerge, with many of our clients making the permanent move from Melbourne to regional Victoria. Prior to this time, a property in regional Victoria for many of our clients may have been a holiday home, investment, or semi-retirement dream. As we take some time to reflect we have seen the pandemic change the way we live, work and relax, we wanted to share our observations on our insights page and we’d love to hear yours too.

Residential Street of Bendigo, Victoria

Urbankind Town Planners outline the basics of what is a Planning Zone and what are Overlays and how they impact your development potential of your land. We can help you identify what your land is Zoned and if you have any Overlays to consider in shaping your plans.

In our Town Planning 101 series the Urbankind team answer your top questions about Planning Permits in Victoria

Need to make a change to your Planning Permit or Endorsed Plans in Victoria? Here’s what you need to know about the process, timing and costs associated so you can decide how best to proceed.

Using a qualified and experienced Town Planner can help speed up the design to build process by securing your permits smoother and quicker for you and your clients.

Urbankind Town Planning can help you get there sooner.

HOW LONG WILL MY PLANNING PERMIT APPROVAL TAKE IN VICTORIA?

The #1 question we get asked and if it’s top of your mind, we can help! We provide some general advice on the 60 statutory days for Planning Permit approvals in Victoria, spoiler alert - it’s typically more then 60!

Parklets for the people by Urbankind.

Happy City Moments by Urbankind