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The second phase of the Victorian State Government 'reformed zones' was released in May and introduces the reformed Industrial Zones and the new Commercial Zones which replace the existing Business Zones. This follows the release of the new residential zones...
Fees for the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) increased on 1 June 2013 with further increases taking effect on 1 July 2013. Attorney-General Robert Clark advised that the main reason for the fee increase is to achieve a fair...
A recent judgment in the Supreme Court of Victoria dealt with the interesting question of the difference between a dwelling and commercial short term accommodation. The issue arose following a determination of the Building Appeals Board (BAB) on the use...
On the metropolitan fringes and in country Victoria a new set of landscape guidelines for residential developments is evolving. In one, Surf Coast Shire has published a booklet entitled ‘Landscaping your Surf Coast Garden for Bushfire’ to guide new residential...
Fees for the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) are to increase over the next month, with some increases to take effect from 1 June 2013 and some from 1 July 2013. The most significant changes to the VCAT fee...
Bicycle safety is close to the heart of the Collie staff, a number of whom are daily commuter riders. VicRoads recorded 10,000 bicycle accidents between 2007 and 2012. As published by The Age this week, researchers have used this data...
An advisory committee was appointed by the Minister for Planning to assess the existing planning parameters around contaminated land and to provide recommendations on how these could be altered to be more efficient and effective. The committee report was released...
It wasn’t too long ago that environmentally sustainable design (ESD) requirements were largely removed from the town planning process and instead addressed predominantly through the Building Code of Australia. More recently however, there has been an acceptance of ESD playing...
The Minister for Planning, Matthew Guy, has recently been subject to criticism for approving too many tower developments in and around the Melbourne CBD. In some cases this criticism has been unfair. As long as the buildings exhibit good design...
Traffic congestion in Melbourne is becoming a growing problem as the City expands and population rises. A report by the Victorian Auditor General (VAGO), Managing Traffic Congestion, released last month, highlights the impacts of congestion and provides a series of...