West Melbourne planning delay “very frustrating”  

A new planning framework for West Melbourne remained awaiting state government approval in what one City of Melbourne councillor described as “unnecessary” and “very frustrating”.

The West Melbourne Structure Plan was referred to Minister for Planning Richard Wynne in May last year, but is still yet to be signed off. 

The council’s deputy planning chair Cr Rohan Leppert said the delay had created excessive red tape and was at odds with the government’s commitment to economic recovery from COVID-19.

“The mantra from the state government and property industry at the moment is that government needs to streamline planning provisions and remove redundancies, to facilitate economic recovery,” Cr Leppert said.

Here’s an opportunity to do just that. It’s very frustrating that it is taking so long for the Minister to make the final decision to amend the planning scheme.

The amendment, titled C309: West Melbourne Structure Plan, has proposed to modernise planning controls in the local area. 

It had sought to protect mixed-use areas and apply more stringent tests on larger developments that could impact the local community. 

Cr Leppert said the plan had received across-the-board backing and was awaiting one final step. 

“We worked hard to design a strong planning framework that the West Melbourne community and the property industry alike supported. It was endorsed by the Minister for Planning’s own planning panel of experts, and the final version was approved by the council’s delegated committee back in May 2020.”

He said that for the past nine months, developers had been forced to operate within a framework that the government itself had wanted to avoid.

“Since May, developers have had to apply for planning permission by complying with the scheme as it currently exists, and also to give regard to the amendment that’s been approved by council but is still sitting on the minister’s desk. This duplication is very inefficient, and it’s unnecessary: the sooner the minister approves the amendment, the sooner developers and all parties can work to one set of planning provisions rather than two.”

There is no time limit on how long the minister can take to make a decision on a planning amendment. 

A state government spokesperson confirmed with North West City News that while there was currently no timeframe for a decision, it could be expected “soon”. 

The West Melbourne Structure Plan is not the only inner-city amendment awaiting approval from the planning minister.

Amendment C308, which would introduce new urban design guidelines for the CBD and Southbank, was sent to the minister back in November 2019. 

Similarly, Amendment C307 (now C366) which would ensure electronic gaming machines were suitably located and operated to minimise gaming-related harm, was submitted for approval in August 2019 •