Gazetted yesterday morning, Amendment VC283 delivers a broad set of planning reforms to give effect to Plan for Victoria. The changes are wide-ranging and have clear implications for housing, settlement, and sustainability.

The key changes made by the amendment are:

• Including an Acknowledgement of Country at Clause 00 – Purpose and Vision.
• Including the People Panel’s vision for Victoria at Clause 01.02 – Vision for Victoria.
• ranging updates to Clause 11 – Settlement, including the introduction of housing targets, and updates to policy and strategies applicable to growth areas (including the Growth Corridor Plans), regional areas, and activity centres, including the Suburban Rail Loop Precincts.
• Associated changes to Clause 16 – Housing have also been made to give effect to the housing targets and new activity centre and precinct framework. Clause 16.01-1S – Housing supply, now includes housing targets for all Victorian municipalities.
• Introducing Clause 12.06 – Sustainable environment and Clause 12.06-1S – Urban Forests to protect and enhance tree canopy, and specifying a 30 per cent tree canopy target in urban areas. Introducing a new Clause 13.01-3S – Urban Heat to give effect to Action 12 of the Plan for Victoria.
• Replacing Plan Melbourne and deleting Victoria’s eight regional growth plans.

In addition to the above points, we also note changes made by Amendment VC283 include:

• Strengthening cultural heritage policy at Clause 15, and heritage policy at Clause 15.01-1S.
• Introduction of new Industrial and Commercia Land Classifications and deletion of references to NEICs.
• Updates to a number of clauses to include reference to the Suburban Rail Loop, including economic development policy at Clause 17.
• Introduction of new State transport maps at Clause 18.
• Updates to the list of Incorporated Documents at Clause 72.04 and Background Documents at Clause 72.08. Plan for Victoria is listed as a Background Document.
• Updates to Clause 73.01 – General Terms, to include definitions for Employment and innovation areas, Metropolitan activity centres and Priority precincts.
• Minor changes to a number of other clauses to consolidate moved and duplicated policy.

These reforms represent a significant shift in Victoria’s planning framework with implications for a wide range of projects. We will carefully review the details and are available to advise on the implications for both current and future projects.