HOW LONG WILL MY PLANNING PERMIT APPROVAL TAKE IN VICTORIA?
HOW LONG WILL YOUR PLANNING PERMIT APPROVAL TAKE IN VICTORIA?
This is the #1 question we get asked and maybe it’s on your mind if you’re reading this.
I will resist quoting my year 9 English teacher by responding with “How long is a piece of string?”. Aside from being annoying it’s also not helpful.
The short answer is 60 days (statutory days - I’ll explain what that means) and why it’s unlikely to be 2 months for your approval (I wish it was that quick for you!). The timing can vary between concepts so there is set answer unfortunately. It depends on a couple of predictable things, I’ll outline what factors will affect the timing and provide some insight to guide your thinking around the timing of progressing your development or subdivision ideas into plans ready for assessment by your local Council.
WHAT WILL INFLUENCE THE TIMING FOR YOUR PERMIT?
The Planning and Environment Act 1987 & Planning and Environment Regulations 2015 set out that Council (or the relevant Authority) have 60 statutory days to make a decision your application. In reality, we know that applications are being approved in more than 60 days. The statutory clock stops and starts and resets throughout the process (e.g. when Council require Further Information, when plans are revised and in the Public Notice Stage). It is not actual days, the 60 days only counts the days where the clock is ticking. Following the days can feel tricky if you’re not familiar with the regulations but that’s where we can help, we keep an eye on the timing for you. There is recourse you can take if Council’s don’t decide within the 60 days but the process can take longer than just waiting for the decision.
If you’re interested you can find tout more about the Planning Permit Process you can get your free copy of our 5 Step Guide to the Planning Process in Victoria by clicking on the link.
A few other things to mention here that frequently push the timing out, internal referrals to relevant teams for comment at Council like engineering and environment teams can raise further information that needs to be addressed. Design revisions along the way take time as we work with your designer/Architect to ensure the revisions resolve the issues at hand. Tricky objections from neighbours can take some to troubleshoot and resolve through mediation and negotiation to address their concerns and at times make modifications to the design.
Some neighbourhoods are predictably easier than others to get your permits approved, for example on the Surf Coast typically it’s easier to get a Permit in Torquay and Jan Juc than it is in Aireys Inlet, Fairhaven or Lorne - it gets progressively trickier as you go down the Great Ocean Rd. Development in a Heritage Overlay in Yarra, yes community are going to have something to say, removing trees in Nillumbick or Aireys Inlet yes this needs to be considered tree by tree and overshadowing roses in Kew well yes, we’ve all heard the urban legends from Booroondara!
WANT THE BAD NEWS OR THE GOOD NEWS?
I’ll start with the good news we know how to try and speed it up for you and have shaped our whole approach around helping you navigate the planning permit approval as smoothly and quickly as possible.
The bad news is the Planning Permit process often takes longer than we hope and most people expect. To help guide your expectations in terms of the timing, a simple very small application like an extension or new home with several Planning Overlays under best case circumstances at the moment (high demand everywhere) is likely to be approved in 3-6 months. If there are complications to troubleshooted this could be longer depending on the context and complexity of the issues to be resolved (or if I’m honest who is helping you with your permit!). Medium to large applications or combined applications (subdivision and buildings and works approvals) can easily take up to 8-12 months or longer.
It also depends on which local Council you are in, you can check your local Council’s performance for Statutory Planning timeframes online, here is a link to the current Surf Coast Shire Council performance. I’m not imagining it - permits are taking a lot longer than they used to there.
Please don’t hate Council - aside from that attitude not getting you far, Council planning teams are often under resourced and typically have many applications on their desk and a high pressure workload. Your permit next steps may not take long to review and move to the next stage please be patient with the planners as they are often juggling concurrent deadlines and waiting on sign off from their Manager. A little kindness goes a long way with your Council planner. They are trying their best to issue your permit and our job is to make that as easy as possible for them to do that for you.
If you have a deadline (are you working towards retirement or trying to be your new house before a baby that’s on the way) please get in touch so we can give you advice on the likely time range for your permit and get things ticking along for you!
3 TIPS TO SPEED UP THE PROCESS FOR YOU
We can help speed up the time it takes, our signature approach is proven to make your application process smoother and quicker. Our team’s extensive experience in the private sector for top tier planning consultancies and leading Planning teams in local government gives us an edge when it comes to anticipating what is needed and navigating the challenges along the way for you in a productive way.
The top 3 things you can do to speed up the process are:
Get good Town Planning advice upfront - so you know what Council’s expectations are and have tips to guide your concept designs
Invest in a good designer/architect/builder - take your time to find the right fit, someone who understands your vision and designs to your needs and budget and adds value to your ideas
Get Council on your side early - first impressions count, do your homework so you can give them everything they need to make a decision on your proposal.
It’s best to get your Town Planner on board as early as possible (- even before you select your builder or Architect/Designer/Builder) to help guide your decision making and manage your expectations about what is realistic on your land. We provide early advice from the outset for your Architect/Designer or Builder to ensure they know what the key requirements are so that you can design with confidence knowing Council’s expectations for your local area. Design for compliance or push the envelope, design excellence can justify a variance we can help advise along the way which provisions are easiest to push in which areas. A great design always has a smoother pathway to approval. Lastly but certainly not least - get Council onside early! Let us deal with Council so you don’t have to, from pre app advice if we are pushing the envelope or just making a great first impression with your comprehensive Permit application we’d love to help your dream permits approved as quickly and smoothly as possible!
WE’D LOVE TO HELP YOU NAVIGATE THE RED TAPE FOR YOUR PERMIT
Back to good news, we really love taking the stress out of it for you by dealing with your local Council planner so you don’t have to. We keep in regular contact to ensure it gets progressed as quickly are possible. Our signature approach is to build a great relationship with them to understand your projects priority in their work program to manage our expectations on timing and to know sooner rather than later if there’s any red flags. We advocate strongly for your interests at every step of the way - especially if we feel like Council’s expectations are unreasonable along the way, we love negotiating better outcomes for you.
GET IN TOUCH
We’d love to see how we can help you, send us an e-mail or book a call at a time that suits you best.
