👍From a developer's perspective, we welcome greater certainty and removing debate on both subjective and objective aspects of applications. The devil will be in the detail, and whether the Victoria State Government (Victorian Government) actually pushes the changes through.
✅Neighbourhood Character provisions (as opposed to heritage or other overlays overlays) are some of the most debated aspects of any permit application. I have consistenty maintained that these should not be planning considerations for areas designated for growth.
✅Height and Setbacks are things that NIMBYs and Councils love to debate, even when applications were compliant with the rules. Having deemed to comply provisions on these would be great.
✅Tree Removal is a painful process, with most projects having to go through the absurd rigmarole of local Council or arborist opinions to remove vegetation. Streamlining this to allow development would be highly welcome, and the rules should consider future canopy cover post-development as an alternative if the 12m2 metric can't be met.
❓The proposed Side Setback provision, allowing a 11m high building, is conceptually interesting. This would improve building design efficiency, but I suspect also result in less overall dwelling area than current rules permit. It is also reliant on consolidating multiple lots of 15m+ frontage with the right orientation, which will not make the land (or the dwellings) cheap.
❓Site Coverage rule changes will only assist with yield if Garden Area Rules are commensurately modified or eliminated. And reduced Private Open Space would need to be linked to changes to BADS and local planning schemes.
✅✅✅It would surprise no-one that I'm greatly in favour of removing third-party Appeal Rights where planning regulations have been followed.
Let's keep some perspective: Assuming all these changes were carried through, they w͟i͟l͟l incrementally increase smaller-scale development in established neighbrouhoods where prevailing land values support it.
These w͟i͟l͟l͟ n͟o͟t fundamentally improve the economics of apartment development, and should not be relied up to unlock swathes of supply in areas where #feasibilities don't support this style of housing already.
🤔We won't reach #housingstatement or #housingaccord targets, especially more attainable homes, without unlocking #development at scale. It can't be done with small blocks of 10-20 units across our cities.