This development involved demolition of the existing home and construction of two double storey dwellings on the property.
It was approved by Banyule City Council in January 2014, construction commenced in September 2015 and the development was finished in September 2016. Banyule City Council have very robust planning regulations relating to trees and there were significant trees on this site and the neighbouring properties that needed to be retained as part of the development.
The CS Town Planning team worked diligently with an appointed arborist to design a proposal that would not impact the significant trees during construction. There was a large tree on the neighbouring property that required a large no construction zone around it which meant the design had to include a bigger back yard for the front dwelling than would typically be required. Retention of trees is a significant issue for councils, especially Banyule and Nillumbik Councils.
If you are completing a subdivision in an area where there a number of trees involved we will recommend a reputable arborist to be involved in the application so that we can be sure of Council support.
It seems that more and more local councils are moving towards a paperless future and moving services and payments online. This is good news for developers as a fully online planning application process will save you time and money, with smoother lodgement and easier to track documents, not to mention a huge reduction in paper usage.
Councils with fully online planning permit applications are:
- Banyule
- Brimbank
- Darebin
- Hobson’s Bay
- Maribyrnong
- Moreland
- Mornington Peninsula
- Port Phillip
- Stonnington
Councils accepting emailed application documents are:
- Bayside
- Kingston
Many councils we have spoken to lately that are currently accepting paper only lodgements are moving across to online within the year, and this is great news for the bottom line.
So, if you are planning your next project within a council listed above, your application process just got a little simpler and cost effective.
There will no longer be a two dwelling maximum on sites in the zone.
The zone will now require that a specific percentage of the site area be reserved as backyard or garden space and there will be no limit on the number of dwellings that can be built on a site. The area required for driveways cannot be included in the calculation of yard space.
The percentages of yard space required for sites are:
- For a site less than 400 square metres – no prescriptive requirement;
- For a site between 401 – 500 square metres – 25%;
- For a site between 501 – 650 square metres – 30%;
- For a site greater than 651 square metres – 35%;
The above requirements will also apply to sites in the general residential zone. This reform will apply to every council in the state of Victoria.
In addition to abolishing the two dwelling maximum the state government have also increased the maximum building height limit in the neighbourhood residential zone from 8 metres to 9 metres and there is a mandatory building height of 11 metres introduced for the general residential zone.
These changes came into effect across every Council on the 27/3/2017.
Planning fees increase by thousands of dollars as Victorian Planning Minister overhauls the system.
Developers will pay significantly more for permits along with a range of new fee categories.
Mr Wynne, Victorian Planning Mininster, said that rate payers had been footing the bill for developers for too long. He claims this is a long awaited resolution that will ensure costs are more appropriately borne by those making planning applications.
These new fees came into effect on the 13th of October 2016.
Andrews Labour Government have released a draft of the Apartment Design Guidelines aimed at increasing design standards while maintaining affordability in Melbourne’s booming apartment market. Specific areas where better standards are sought are natural light and ventilation and introducing minimum standards that will support health and wellbeing of occupants. For the past four years Melbourne has won title of the world’s most liveable city. These draft design standards aim to enhance Victoria’s reputation for liveability.
Community survey participants ranked the key issues affecting apartment by most to least important and identified daylight space, natural ventilation, noise and energy as the top issues. At present Victoria has a limited level of design guidance for apartment developments when compared to other Australian states.
Visit haveyoursay.delwp.vic.gov.au/better-apartments to provide your feedback before 19 September 2016. Your feedback will inform final Apartment Design Standards that will be introduced later this year.
This is the body On the 14th of June 2016 CS Town Planning were awarded a Gold Australian Customer Service Award for 2016 for their commitment to delivering a world class customer service experience. The company were recognised for the award based on the survey responses of previous customers. The survey was anonymous and conducted independently by an external third party. The award is excellent recognition of the valuable work all our team do for our clients. .
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews reshuffled his ministry and appointed Lily D’Ambrosio to an additional portfolio of Suburban Development to ensure that our fastest growing suburbs remain great places to work and live.
Ms D’ Ambrosio’s key objective in her new position will be to work to develop five year plans for jobs, services and infrastructure and to identify where state and federal government should focus investment.
Her functional purpose is to co-ordinate government policy and programs in outer urban growth areas as these are the areas experiencing the strongest population growth.
The Victorian Government has announced changes to Melbourne’s planning strategy for growth.
The original strategy was released in May 2014 and outlines measures to support jobs close to homes, services and transport, etc. The 2014 change in the Victorian Government has resulted in the need to revise parts of Plan Melbourne 2014 according to the new government’s commitments. ‘Refresh’ of Plan Melbourne will focus on issues such as housing affordability and diversity, better local communities and better transport. Some of the proposed strategies are:
- 20-minute neighbourhoods; where people can both work and meet their daily needs within a 20-minute walk.
- 70/30 target; deliver 70% of new housing in Melbourne’s established areas and 30% greenfield growth areas.
- Facilitate more housing supply, including housing suitable for families with children.
- Apply the Neighbourhood Residential Zone to at least 50% of residential lands.
- Sustainable renewal of residential areas, where existing building stock is outdated and land values make redevelopment attractive.
- Transport infrastructure initiatives such as the Melbourne Metro Rail Project, the improvements to the Cranbourne, Pakenham and Mernda rail lines, and removal of the East West Link.
During this time, an online forum will be available for interested parties, such as you, to post ideas or ask questions about the Plan Melbourne refresh until Friday, 18 December 2015. Afterwards, the submissions will be reviewed and changes will be reflected in Plan Melbourne 2016.
As a service to our subscribers, CS Town Planning Experts will also gladly answer your questions regarding Plan Melbourne refresh.
Read more about the refresh of Plan Melbourne here.
We are proud to announce that CS Town Planning Services was nominated as one of the five finalists for “Small Business of the Year” of Optus My Business Awards 2015. Our team attended the award ceremony in Sydney on 13 November 2015, as shown in the picture below.
As you may have seen on the news on Wednesday July 15th, a wall caved in at a construction site in Mount Waverley. This led to some shocking images of a townhouse teetering on the edge of the pit and the evacuation of a dozen neighbouring residents. The site, located on the corner of Huntingdale and Highbury roads, was excavated 15 metres deep for the construction of a $5.5 million medical and childcare centre.
According to Victoria Police, the collapsed face of the excavation is said to be stable now. On Monday August 3rd, work began on backfilling the pit in order to stabilise it. Victoria Police have said it could take up five weeks to refill the pit as the excavation is about 10,000 cubic metres in size and requires 1000 truckloads of dirt to fill up.
The landslip was the second one on the site within two days, allegedly due to heavy rain. The Victoria Building Authority believes otherwise and is currently investigating any non-compliance in the building permit and/or conduct of building practitioners involved.
For more information, please click here.