If you're familiar with the Nillumbik Planning Scheme, you may notice that it looks a little different lately. These changes are largely cosmetic, and were undertaken by the Minister for Planning under a change called 'Amendment C135'.
The Smart Planning Program
In 2018, the Minister for Planning made widespread changes to the Victoria Planning Provisions.
These changes formed of Stage 2 of the State Government's Smart Planning Program, and included:
- Introduction of a new Planning Policy Framework.
- Enabling the future introduction of the Municipal Planning Strategy.
- Introduction of new state, regional and local integrated policy structure.
Amendment C135 forms part of Stage 3 of the Smart Planning Program. These changes aim to further reform Victoria's planning system make planning schemes more efficient, accessible and transparent.
Why is this change necessary?
Amendment C135 has been undertaken by the Minister for Planning, in consultation with Council.
Local policy content has been translated in a generally policy-neutral manner, in accordance with the principles set out in A Practitioner's Guide to Victorian Planning Schemes to ensure policy content is:
- Within the scope of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 and is strategically justified.
- Clear in its application, proportional to the intended planning outcome and consistent with relevant parent provisions, practice notes, advisory notes and ministerial directions issued by the Minister for Planning.
- Drafted to be clear and unambiguous.
What's changed?
For detail in regard to the specific changes to the content of the Nillumbik Planning Scheme, please see the DELWP amendments website.
Generally, the translation:
- Relocates the content to the appropriate theme-based clauses in the Planning Policy Framework, Municipal Planning Strategy and relevant local schedules, with the intended effect of the original clauses remaining unchanged.
- Clarifies and improves the style, format, language or grammatical form of content, in accordance with the Practitioner's Guide to Victorian Planning Schemes, with the intended effect of the original clauses remaining unchanged.
- Updates clause references, department names, legislation names, document references, terminology and statistical data.
- Deletes or adjusts incompatible content that conflicts with State planning policy of the Victoria Planning Provisions (VPP).
- Removes repetitive content.
- Removes or updates outdated content.
It's important to note that although the Planning Scheme may look different, the intended effect of all clauses in the Planning Scheme remains unchanged.
The Municipal Planning Strategy: Setting the vision
When the Nillumbik Planning Scheme was translated into the new format through Amendment C135, it was also required to introduce a new Municipal Planning Strategy (MPS).
The MPS provides an overview of important local planning issues and sets out the vision and strategic directions for future land use and development for the municipality.
Council will be engaging with the community in the coming months in regard to preparation of a new MPS that will set the vision for land use and planning in Nillumbik for the next 10-20 years.
Visit our Participate Nillumbik site to have your say on the new MPS - coming soon!
