The Victorian Government has just announced that they will be making it ‘quicker and easier’ to lodge and track planning amendments through a suite of digital planning tools being launched today.
The Amendment Tracking System (ATS) will be a centralised system that stores Victoria’s 82 planning schemes online. The system will allow councils and developers to lodge, pay for, and track their planning scheme amendment requests online, in addition to enabling Victorians resident and developers to comment electronically on exhibited amendments. This initiative has been designed to slash ‘red tape’ and forms a part of the Victorian Government’s Smart Planning reform, which has been predicted to save the building and construction industry $35 million every year.
Minister for Planning Richard Wynne, said this ground-breaking system will make it quicker and easier to lodge, track and comment on planning applications – slashing red tape and saving money
“Victoria’s nation-leading construction boom needs up-to-date tools like this,” he said.
The Government has also just released an online resource library with search tools on the Planning website to assist with current and archived planning documents. The library has seen a significant transformation since its last reform 23 years ago, with the library now including 75,000 pages across 7,000 different documents, whilst also providing approximately 15,000 maps. Making these documents readily available will potentially assist communities, councils and developers to further understand the planning requirements in their area.
The State Government also plans to deliver a new Planning Policy Framework (PPF) which will integrate state and local planning policies, aiming to slash duplication and hopefully diminish conflicting policy. The PPF is set to become a framework which is easy to navigate, ensures consistency and simplifies updates. Local councils will integrate their local planning policies into the PPF over the next 12-18 months.
More information on this, along with the online resource library, can be found here.