New Victorian Government planning rules that govern how townhouses and low-rise apartments are designed and approved are now in place across Bayside, and Victoria.
The Victorian Government's amendment VC267 to the code for residential building standards, or ResCode, was introduced on 31 March 2025.
The changes currently apply to townhouses and low-rise apartment buildings. We are anticipating that similar changes will apply to single dwellings on small blocks in the near future.
It represents one of the most significant changes to Victoria's residential planning standards in decades.
Council strongly opposed key parts of these changes in our submission to the Victorian Government, which raised concerns about the loss of green space, privacy, neighbourhood character, and community voice.
Changes to the planning application process
The Victorian Government has introduced the changes to accelerate housing approvals and help address housing supply targets.
However, the changes also limit community input, with a new 'deemed-to-comply' process requiring automatic approval for townhouse or low-rise apartment proposals that meet all new standards.
The changes restrict Council officers ability to apply variations to applications to maintain the look and feel of our Bayside suburbs. There is also a significant impact to the way our community can participate in the planning process.
These changes include:
- 'Deemed to comply' applications must be advertised for transparency. But any objections received cannot change the outcome of an application
- Council has changed how we are making planning decisions, including dissolving the Planning Amenity and Delegated Committee. When Councillors need to make a planning decision, it will be heard at a Council meeting
- If an application is fully compliant, irrespective of the objections, the application will not be heard at a Council meeting
- If not compliant, applications with 12 or more objections and are recommended for approval, will be considered at a Council meeting
- A fully compliant application will not be able to be appealed at Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) by objectors.
How these changes are now shaping Bayside's neighbourhoods
Among the key changes now shaping Bayside's neighbourhoods are:
- A flat 6-metre minimum front setback, replacing the previous averaging with neighbours
- Tighter side and rear setbacks, allowing buildings to sit closer to property boundaries
- The removal of screening requirements for bedroom windows
- Reduced requirements for tree planting and landscaping, and higher site coverage.
