Victoria · Preliminary planning reports
Preliminary planning reports in Victoria
A $199 desktop planning assessment for any address in Victoria. We take the parcel from the state cadastre, sweep the zoning and overlay mapping at the parcel, read the planning scheme and ResCode in force and cite it by clause, and set out in writing what was checked and what was not. Prepared and professionally reasoned by a town planner and delivered within one business day.
What governs a site in Victoria
In Victoria every council administers a planning scheme made up of zones, overlays and schedules. The state-wide content comes from the Victoria Planning Provisions; the schedules are where the council’s local settings sit, so the same zone can carry different requirements in two municipalities.
For housing, ResCode sets the design standards: clause 54 for one dwelling on a lot, clause 55 for two or more dwellings, and clause 56 for subdivision. Plan Melbourne and the regional growth plans are the strategic layer above the scheme.
VicPlan is the state’s official planning map, where the zone and overlay maps for every scheme are published.
The instruments the report reads in Victoria
- Municipal planning scheme · zones, overlays and schedules
- Victoria Planning Provisions · the state-wide content every scheme draws on
- ResCode · clauses 54, 55 and 56
- Plan Melbourne and the regional growth plans · the strategic layer
Councils in Victoria
Every local government area in Victoria, from the ABS local government area list. Each page explains how the report works for a site in that council.
- Alpine
- Ararat
- Ballarat
- Banyule
- Bass Coast
- Baw Baw
- Bayside
- Benalla
- Boroondara
- Brimbank
- Buloke
- Campaspe
- Cardinia
- Casey
- Central Goldfields
- Colac Otway
- Corangamite
- Darebin
- East Gippsland
- Frankston
- Gannawarra
- Glen Eira
- Glenelg
- Golden Plains
- Greater Bendigo
- Greater Dandenong
- Greater Geelong
- Greater Shepparton
- Hepburn
- Hindmarsh
- Hobsons Bay
- Horsham
- Hume
- Indigo
- Kingston
- Knox
- Latrobe
- Loddon
- Macedon Ranges
- Manningham
- Mansfield
- Maribyrnong
- Maroondah
- Melbourne
- Melton
- Merri-bek
- Mildura
- Mitchell
- Moira
- Monash
- Moonee Valley
- Moorabool
- Mornington Peninsula
- Mount Alexander
- Moyne
- Murrindindi
- Nillumbik
- Northern Grampians
- Port Phillip
- Pyrenees
- Queenscliffe
- South Gippsland
- Southern Grampians
- Stonnington
- Strathbogie
- Surf Coast
- Swan Hill
- Towong
- Wangaratta
- Warrnambool
- Wellington
- West Wimmera
- Whitehorse
- Whittlesea
- Wodonga
- Wyndham
- Yarra
- Yarra Ranges
- Yarriambiack
How the report works for a site in Victoria
The same five steps for every site in Australia, applied to the planning scheme and ResCode. Nothing is stated that was not checked.
Step 1
Parcel from the state cadastre
We take the parcel from the state cadastre and project it, so the report is about the lot itself and not a point on a street.
Step 2
Zoning and overlays swept at the parcel
The zoning and overlay mapping is swept at the parcel boundary, not at a single point, so a layer that touches one corner of the block is caught.
Step 3
The instrument in force, cited by clause
We read the planning instrument in force and cite it by clause, with its version and date, so every statement in the report can be checked at the source.
Step 4
Nearby applications where a public register exists
Where the council keeps a public register of applications, we read the nearby ones and cite what we found. We do not hold a database of decisions for the council.
Step 5
The provisions, quoted
Every rule the answer depends on is quoted from the instrument in force, with the clause named, so the answer can be checked against the source.
We do not hold a database of council decisions in Victoria. Where a council publishes a public register of applications, the report reads the nearby ones and cites what it found. Our free block checker covers South East Queensland only, so it is not offered in Victoria.
Taking a Victoria project through to lodgement
DA projects are quoted individually. We take a limited number at a time so each gets a director’s attention, and we reply within one business day with availability.
Know your site before you commit
A $199 report for any address in Victoria: the parcel, the zoning and overlays at the parcel, the planning scheme and ResCode cited by clause. Prepared and professionally reasoned by our planning team and delivered within one business day.