Councils play a vital role in Victoria’s planning and building systems. They are responsible for development of local planning policy, assessing the vast majority of planning permit applications, and have key responsibilities in enforcement of both the planning and building systems.

Current priorities

We are involved in capacity-building reform projects, and we represent councils in numerous State-led reviews and reforms in the planning and building spaces.

Our key areas of focus for planning and building include:

• The Smart Planning reform program
• Changes to residential zones
• Addressing compliance and the building regulatory system
• Coastal planning in response to climate change
• Sustainable animal industries
• Interaction between planning and the reform program for the Environment Protection Authority (EPA).

Our immediate priorities include:

• The Victorian Government’s Smart Planning reform program
• Inadequacies in the building regulatory system leading to poor compliance levels
• Reforms arising from the EPA inquiry, particularly related to the management of potentially contaminated land
• The Public Housing Renewal Program and broader advocacy on affordable housing
• Interaction between climate change and land use planning
• Interaction between land use planning and renewable energy
• Planning controls for animal industries
• Ecologically Sustainable Development in planning and building.

Current projects

• Population management
• Port Phillip Bay Coastal Planning Project
• Council Alliance for a Sustainable Built Environment
• Affordable Housing Agreements Resources

Submissions and briefs

We develop and form a collective local government sector view on a range of planning and building topics. Our most recent submissions include:

• Protecting strategic agricultural land - May 2019 (Word - 300KB)
• Draft Solar Energy Facilities Design and Development Guidelines - Feb 2019 (Word - 306KB)
• SMART Planning - Reforming the Victorian Planning Provisions - Dec 2017 (Word - 741KB)
• Planning for Sustainable Animal Industries - Nov 2017 (Word - 309KB)
• Review of Aboriginal Heritage Regulations - Sep 2017 (Word - 34KB)
• Draft Building Regulations and Regulatory Impact Statement - Jul 2017 (Word - 303KB)
• Review of the Native Vegetation Clearing Regulations - Mar 2017 (Word - 335KB)

To access all MAV planning and building related submissions, visit the MAV submissions page.

Committees and reference groups

We represent local government on numerous high-level advisory and reference groups, including the:

• Victorian Cladding Taskforce
• Victorian Building Authority Stakeholder Reference Group
• Smart Planning Advisory Group
• Planning for Sustainable Animal Industries Steering Committee, Implementation Reference Group and Technical Reference Group
• Earth Resources Ministerial Advisory Council
• Victorian Swimming Pool and Spa Safety Committee.

Resources

We are currently updating our Councillor guide to land use in Victoria, and it will be available alongside our councillor training early in 2021.

• Local government's role in building control - An introduction for councillors (PDF - 1.14MB) - Developed with the Victorian Building Authority and Victorian Municipal Building Surveyors Group, this guide seeks to help councillors understand the important role of building control and the Municipal Building Surveyor within councils.
• Financial costs of settlement patterns in rural and regional Victoria modelling tool (Excel – 6.25KB) - Released in 2013, this tool provides rural and regional councils with insights into the costs of different settlement patterns based on essential infrastructure items.
• Where and how should we grow (Word – 1.36MB)

Managing residential character in rural and regional Victoria

The MAV commissioned Planisphere to prepare a report defining the characteristics of residential development in rural and regional areas. The report also outlines mechanisms that can guide improved residential development and identifies areas of potential reform.

• Managing residential character in rural and regional Victoria (Word – 48.1MB)
• Managing residential character in rural and regional Victoria (PDF – 3.04MB)
• Stronger planning enforcement risk assessment framework (PDF - 118KB) – A risk assessment tool prepared by Rural Councils Victoria and the MAV to assist councils to determine enforcement priorities, having regard to available resources.
• The 2019 MAV Rural and Regional Planning Conference was held in Ballarat on 30–31 May.

You can access planning and building-related presentations from past events on our past event presentations page.

Further information

• Port Philip Bay coastal planning project
• Planning & building (Vic Councils)

Engage with us

Subscribe to our monthly Planning and Environment Bulletin to keep informed about local government related news and events.

For more information about our planning and building policy work, contact:

Emlyn Breese
Senior Adviser Planning and Environment
planning@mav.asn.au
(03) 9667 5534