What are the fees and costs for a planning scheme amendment?

Planning scheme amendments can be undertaken by the State Government and local councils which are responsible for the operation and development of planning schemes. Individuals, organisations or companies can request a planning scheme amendment. If Council agrees to the request State Government and Council fees and costs apply. These are explained in the Yarra City Council Planning Scheme Amendment fees and costs policy.

These fees and costs are intended to cover the costs of a planning scheme amendment which include public consultation, administrative costs and any third party or expert review. The fees and costs may vary depending on the size and complexity of the amendment. The policy can be found here.

Key terms in the planning scheme

The following are definitions of some of the more common planning terms we use:

Activity Centre: An area that provides a focus for services, employment, housing, transport and social interaction.  They include Yarra's retail streets. 

Commercial zone: Land that primarily has a commercial purpose, including shops, offices and restaurants.

Design and Development Overlay: A planning tool that is applied to areas such as activity centres like precincts and shopping strips that need specific requirements to guide the built form and design of new development.

Dwelling: A house, townhouse or apartment. It might be a single dwelling on a lot, a row of dwellings, a block of flats or apartments - each individual residence is a dwelling.

Heritage Overlay: A planning tool that is applied to properties which are deemed places of natural or cultural significance. A Heritage Overlay provides guidance about how to undertake works which conserve and enhance the significance of heritage properties, and ensures any works are not detrimental to the significance of heritage properties.

Major Employment Precincts: There are two in Yarra - Cremorne Enterprise Precinct (including Church Street), Richmond and the Gipps Street Employment Precinct in Collingwood.  They host a diversity of traditional industrial uses, commercial offices and creative industries.  

Mixed use zone: Land that has a mixture of commercial, industrial and residential uses.

Planning Scheme: A planning scheme is a statutory document that sets out objectives, policies and provisions relating to the use, development, protection and conservation of land in the area to which it applies. A planning scheme regulates the use and development of land through planning provisions to achieve those objectives and policies.

Residential zone:  Land that is predominantly for housing. The residential zone applies to 805 hectares of land in Yarra, accounting for 41% of all land in the municipality.

Zones: The planning scheme zones all land to reflect various land uses.  Zones categorise how land is used and there are specific rules relating to each zone.

Where can I get more information?

For a better understanding of the Victorian Planning System and Planning Schemes, the Guide to Victoria's Planning System provides more information for all users. For more information on Planning in Victoria the Department of Transport and Planning has more information about planning on its website.