The Planning Permit application process and relevant legislation prescribe the minimum amount of community and applicant participation in the application process.
Whilst a Council can follow these minimum requirements, it does not ensure that the best and most informed decisions are made.
Often, permit applicants can be surprised by a recommendation or decision of Council and residents or objectors can often be left with little to no information on an application until after a decision is made.
Monash Council currently does little more than follow the minimum requirements. This is in contrast to many other Victorian councils which have adopted a range of different approaches designed to improve the planning assessment process from an applicant, objector and general community point of view.
I presented a report to the November 2015 Council meeting recommending that Council review its current approach to how we engage with permit applicants and objectors with an aim of improving our processes. My aim is to improve the opportunity for all participants in the planning process to be better involved and more informed. I hope that by adopting such an approach, Council and the community will also benefit from improved planning decision-making and from parties having greater confidence in our processes.
The involvement of applicants and objectors in the planning application process varies from council to council. There is no obvious perfect system. As tempting as it might be to simply replicate a model that another council may use, we need to ensure that any process works for us, our residents and applicants.
What is clear though is that Council’s current approach provides minimum opportunity for formal applicant and objector input into the process. Recent feedback for Council through the Community Satisfaction Survey in relation to town planning included the following the issues being raised:
- a lack of transparency in planning processes;
- residents do not understand how planning processes work; and
- residents do not feel their concerns are being taken into account in the decision-making process.
In reviewing and responding to this feedback, Council officers have identified some initiatives which include:
- reviewing the extent of notification of planning applications and ensuring that we are reaching those properties that are potentially directly affected by a planning permit application;
- improving the availability of information about an application on Council’s website and Council’s planning processes and opportunities for engagement;
- making available answers to frequently asked questions; and
- reviewing existing fact/advice sheets to be clear and preparing additional information as required.
The fundamental question remains however: what more can we do to better engage, involve and inform all stakeholders in the planning decision-making process?
A review of the methods that councils use reveal that these are extremely broad and includes a variety of engagement methods. These range from:
- mediation/consultation meetings;
- information sessions during advertising;
- discussing issues and objections with applicants and objectors in person or on the phone; and
- various panels or committees of Council (comprising either officers, councillors or a mix) to hear, consider and resolve on applications.
I proposed that Council undertake some detailed research on what a new and improved planning process may look like. In particular:
- a review of what we currently do;
- a consideration of the leading processes and models that councils in other parts of Victoria, Australia and overseas use;
- what models or changes may best suit Council;
- a review of Council’s Instrument of Delegation and in particular Schedule 2 of the Instrument of Delegation – Conditions relating to the Instrument of Delegation; and
- the implications and benefits of any potential changes.
Planning applications are a source of regular friction between applicants, objectors and Council. Recent examples have highlighted frustration from a number of parties that their positions have not been fully engaged with by Council, that conditions or alterations which have been imposed by Council have been made without Council also providing an opportunity for feedback and that there has not been an opportunity for verbal submissions. In the interests of supporting Council’s current priority to engage better with the community, it is both timely and appropriate that it review its planning permit assessment processes to better engage and involve applicants, objectors and the community more generally.
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