​Cr Bill McArthur, MAV President said the Shire had shown a well rounded approach to planning improvement and demonstrated qualities of leadership, effective process management and performance monitoring, and a focus on the customer.

"Campaspe Shire is one of the first ten councils participating in the MAV STEP Planning Process Improvement Program to boost the quality and efficiency of their planning services.

"STEP uses an intensive audit and review approach so participating councils can pinpoint their trouble spots, prioritise areas for improvement, and take action to deliver better and faster planning decisions.

"Local government plays a vital role in Victoria’s planning system - undertaking strategic planning, engaging with communities and making local decisions that offer a net community benefit.

"In particular, planning permit assessments are often the subject of tension and criticism, despite the vast majority of applications being approved efficiently and without appeal.

"It’s an inherently complex area of council responsibility, and the Shire of Campaspe’s planning team have shown a strong commitment to process improvement, staff training and development, and customer satisfaction.

"The Council’s efforts have contributed to its ongoing good performance in the Planning Permit Activity Report, which is above both the State and rural averages. Over the past six months the applications decided within statutory timeframes improved from 77 per cent to a remarkable 91 per cent.

"An innovative ‘three pathways’ approach introduced by the Shire has also resulted in minor planning applications taking an average of 23 total days, which the Council has been tracking through a detailed performance monitoring system.

"The MAV congratulates the Shire of Campaspe on its planning process improvement work and the results that have been achieved so far," he said.

The STEP Planning Process Improvement Program is a low cost, structured and supported way to regularly review and improve councils’ planning services. It aims to identify efficiency improvements, manage compliance and risk, and target scarce resources to achieve time and cost savings for councils, greater transparency and accountability for planning decisions, and service improvements for users.

Cr McArthur said local councils were demonstrating a willingness to improve and measure their performance in planning, and to provide greater certainty to users of the planning system.

"Councils from the first intake of the STEP program are now armed with improvement plans and we look forward to discussing the results with them when we next meet in August," he said.

A second intake of councils will commence the STEP audit and review part of the program later this month.

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Contact MAV President, Cr Bill McArthur on 0437 984 793 or MAV Communications on 03 9667 5521.