Consulting is not about giving the right answer more than providing the right guidance.

The State Government is currently with haste pushing through the Planning Amendment (Better Decisions Made Faster) Bill 2025.

It is no surprise that our planning processes both at the State and municipal levels are not fit for purpose. While councils are required to decide an application within sixty statutory days, the average time for a regular application is around 155 days, and the state-wide average can be closer to 210 days.

In the City of Port Phillip, head way is being made in the planning process with the number of days (median) for approved applications falling from 161 days in 2023 to 66 days in 2025. Pleasing although far from optimal, is that 71% of applications within the prescribed 60 days turnaround time.

The current drive to pass the State planning amendments is not the answer to Victoria’s current planning and housing woes. The new legislation fails to adequately consult both the general public and as importantly, the councils who effectively administer the myriad of planning rules. At the very least, a public inquiry combined with greater parliamentary scrutiny should be conducted before this legislation is enacted.

Good legislation works when the public and implementing bodies (administrators) are brought along in the process. Instead, what appears to be is a rushed push to be seen to be doing something to alleviate the current housing crisis without socialisation.

The Planning Bill poses significant questions including:

• Removal of the objective for safe living and working environment.
• Planning approvals into “marginal land” (flood or bushfire risk affected).
• Reduction in public notice of planning applications including limitation on rights to who can object. This extraordinarily, also disallows the right to go to VCAT for three to six storey developments where it does not comply with the building code.
• Removes Parliament’s disallowance power over planning scheme amendments and consolidates power for the Minister for Planning to unilaterally change planning rules; and
• Potential erosion of heritage precincts.

We encourage you to email Members of Parliament to request changes to the draft legislation and to call for community consultation prior to passing the bill. See link for more information and email addresses. https://go.planningdemocracy.com/mailwizz/index.php/campaigns/gv5781h0v7db1/web-version/yl292te2tq7bc

Attempting to increase housing supply through enactment of this legislation will not substantially change the dire housing situation Victoria now finds itself in. Whatever effect on the margin of the current proposed legislation, will be counterbalanced by poorer planning outcomes, with suggestions of opaque decision making and disempowerment of local communities.

The housing challenge will not substantially change for several reasons in Victoria and here is why:

On the demand side we currently have:

• High immigration used as a tool to boost economic demand.
• A first home buyers’ scheme and stamp duty concessions that are artificially driving up the price of existing housing stock and

On the supply side, construction costs have risen 40% post pandemic. These costs include:

• Labour and skill shortages including rising labour costs due to the effect of the State Governments big build programme.
• Falling productivity (hourly output by worker fallen 18% over the last decade).
• Build time has gone from nine months to 11 months.
• Supply chain disruptions, land being locked up.
• Taxation, regulatory and compliance costs imposts have added an additional; $157,000 to the price of a dwelling.

The wash up of these prohibitive costs combined with ongoing high immigration fuelled demand, explains why there will remain a housing construction shortfall. And when it comes to construction, effectively the cost of building new apartments is now generally higher than what homebuyers are prepared to pay. Simply put, investors put their money where there is a strong likelihood of financial gain measured against the risk taken. The fundamentals in Victoria currently do not add up to conducive housing construction.

So, the question to be asked is why the rush to push this planning legislation through into law? Surely a six months consultative exercise encompassing the public and stakeholders would drive more inclusive outcomes and ensure everyone has had the opportunity to buy in to what is being proposed.

RoPP Councillors are taking the lead on this within our city and advocating for a halt to the proposed planning amendment legislation as currently drafted. Further, we will be requesting City of Port Phillip to make representations on what is a critical issue for ratepayers and renters alike in our community.