At Yarra City Council, we fundamentally believe that improved planning outcomes occur when the community inputs into the planning process.

In the last financial year, Yarra approved approximately 10% of dwellings in the Greater Melbourne area. Yarra is doing the heavy lifting when it comes to housing supply.

Of the planning applications Yarra received in that time, 98% were approved by Council.

For two decades, the local government sector has been advocating that a 60-day timeframe is insufficient to rigorously assess increasingly complex planning applications.

It appears from the Victorian Government’s media statement today that the new streamlined planning process will allow 4 months (120 days) for State Government development approvals, while simultaneously criticising local government for not meeting the timeframe of 60 days.

Housing affordability issues are driven by a range of factors including warehousing of permits and land banking by developers, infrastructure delivery, labour and material challenges, and national tax settings. Planning reforms alone cannot and will not fix the housing crisis.

The State Government has a once in a generation opportunity to reform the planning system it created. Any changes should be co-designed with local governments who have extensive and nuanced knowledge of their local areas and community’s needs.

Yarra City Council would welcome the opportunity to work with the State Government on planning reform.

We remain committed to fighting for community participation in the planning process.