Under the Planning and Environment Act 1987, the City of Port Phillip is the responsible authority for issuing planning permits within its municipal area.
The City of Port Phillip is a diverse community with many heritage, environmental and amenity considerations. You should not assume that works, however small, do not require a permit. Any change to the way the land is used, any building construction, alterations or building works may require you to obtain planning permission.
The need for a planning permit is determined by the planning controls detailed in the Port Phillip Planning Scheme. While this information can be obtained directly, it is recomended that you contact our Planning Department where our trained officers can provide you with any relevant information and guide you through each step of the application process.
City of Port Phillip Planning Department
St Kilda Town Hall, Cnr Carlisle Street & Brighton Road
T: (03) 9209 6777
F: (03) 9536 2740
E: planhelp@portphillip.vic.gov.au
Our enquiries counter at the St Kilda Town Hall is open at the following times: 8.30am - 6.00pm (Monday only) and 8.30am - 5.00pm (Tuesday to Friday)
The Planning Permit Process
The process for obtaining a planning permit is broken into a number of distinct phases, including but not limited to:
- Pre-application meeting
- Submission of planning permit application, including payment of all appropriate fees.
- Allocation to Planning Officer
- Preliminary assessment by Planning Officer in accordance with the planning scheme as well as policies and guidelines.
- If required, the Planning Officer will contact you in writing to obtain further information
- Application referred to relevant advisors and external organisations
- Your application will then be advertised in accordance with the Planning and Environment Act 1987 (see below)
- Final assessment by Planning Officer
- Decision made to approve/reject proposal made by Planning Officer or Council, as determined by Manager of City Development
Following this process there is an option of an application for review (appeal) to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).
Note: building and other permits may also be required for the use or development of your land.
How to Apply for a Planning Permit
Required Documentation
All applications are required to submit a signed 'Application for Planning Permit' form, along with any items indicated in the 'Planning Permit Application Checklist'. Specialist checklists are also available for specific planning permit applications (i.e. fences, rainwater tanks, etc.). All forms and checklists are available on our Planning Building Forms Page.
As no two applications are the same it is strongly recommended that you contact our planning department prior to the submission of your application. Failure to submit all required documents will delay your applciation.
Application Fee
Due to the time and resources required to effectively process a planning application a fee must be paid in accordance with our Fee Schedule, which is available on our Planning Building Forms Page. Failure to pay the required fee will result in your application not being considered.
Waiving of Planning Permit Application Fees
As part of the City of Port Phillip's commitment towards environmental and social sustainability the planning permit application fee associated with various sustainable design initiatives will no longer be required. For more information please click here.
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Free Advice & Help
City of Port Phillip Planning Officers are available free-of-charge at any time prior to, during, or following the planning permit application process to assist you. To facilitate this you can either phone us on (03) 9209 6777 and ask to speak to a Planner directly, arrange a meeting, or you can simply drop in to the St Kilda Town Hall to visit our duty planner.
Our various advisors (including; Heritage, Sustainable Design, and Urban Design) are also available upon request to assess and provide advice on your proposal in relation to their particular fields of expertise. Click here for more information on our Sustainable Design Assessment Process
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Application notification/advertising
Under the Planning and Environment Act 1987, advertising is required where a proposal may have an impact on nearby properties. Advertising can take the form of either or all of the following three methods:
- mail
- on-site notice
- newspaper publication
This requirement is in place to enable persons to consider the proposal and its impact on them. The City of Port Phillip will advise of the requirements for the advertising process. The advertising period is 14 days from issuing a Notice of Application and the council cannot make a decision until this period is complete.
Planning and building services offers a professional advertising service to assist in this process. See Planning Building Forms Page for more details.
The City of Port Phillip may also refer an application to other authorities such as Melbourne Water or Heritage Victoria. These authorities have 28 days to respond and may object or impose conditions to an application.
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Objecting to a planning permit application
Any person who feels they might be detrimentally affected by a particular planning proposal can lodge an objection to the council. Objections must be in writing, clearly stating the reasons for the objection and outlining their view. The council must take these into consideration before making a decision. However, only objections on valid planning grounds can be considered. The council has developed an Objectors Guide for your assistance, accessible on the Planning Building Forms Page.
Please use eServices to Object to a Planning Permit, ask us a question, request information or give us feedback online. If you prefer call ASSIST on (03) 9209 6777 or (03) 9209 6713 and ask for the Planning & Building Department. Alternatively, visit us at Port Phillip Council, St Kilda Town Hall, 99a Carlisle Street, ST KILDA VIC 3182
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Deciding an application
Council officers assess each planning application in accordance with the Planning Scheme as well as Local Policies, Council Strategies and guidelines. Significant weight will also be given to the following:
- Whether the proposal is consistent with the purpose of the zone in which the land is situated
- Whether the proposed use or development maintains or enhances the character of the neighbourhood (for example, that the design and scale of buildings is consistent with others in the area)
- Whether the amenity of adjoining properties is maintained - for example, by minimising overshadowing, overlooking, noise, traffic and parking impacts
- Whether a proposed new development achieves a high standard of urban design.
It is important for applicants and their representatives to understand the special characteristics of City of Port Phillip's individual neighbourhoods and to ensure that developments respond to and reinforce these characteristics.
The City of Port Phillip embraces a consultative approach to the planning process and may choose to involve applicants, objectors and Councillors in consultation meetings to provide a forum where discussions about the proposal can occur between the parties with a view to identifying concerns, possible means for addressing concerns and opportunities to improve outcomes for all participants in the process.
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When will the permit be issued?
Specific processes must be followed to enable an application to be determined. Factors that influence the timelines of the permit process are partly determined by the Planning and Environment Act 1987 but will also be influenced by:
- Whether potential problems have been identified and addressed in a pre-application process
- The clarity and adequacy of information and detail provided with the application
- The completeness of information submitted by the applicant and whether the council needs to seek further information in order to assess the application
- The advertising of the proposal and the speed in which the applicant successfully completes the advertising as directed by the council
- The response time of a referral authority when an application is referred to them for comment (i.e. VicRoads for a new access onto a Main Road, Melbourne Water in the case of flood prone land)
- The number of objections and the merits of holding a consultation meeting to resolve objectors concerns
- Whether the council's Planners can make the decision under delegation or needs to be reported to the council
- Whether an appeal occurs after the council makes its decision
- The workload on the the council and VCAT (Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal).
There is no time limit for a responsible authority to make a decision on an application.
However, the Planning and Environment Act 1987 specifies a prescribed time after which the applicant can refer the matter to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) for determination. The prescribed time is 60 days, however, there are rules set out in the Regulations about when the prescribed time starts and when it stops. For instance, the prescribed time of 60 days starts from the date on which the Responsible Authority receives the application (or amended application) unless the council has sought further information from the applicant and asked for this information within 28 days of receipt of the application. In this case, the 60 days starts from the day on which the requested information is provided to the council.
The prescribed time of 60 days also does not run during the public notification period or for the 28 days in which referral authorities have to respond to a referral.
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Can a decision be appealed?
If your application is refused or you are unhappy about the conditions that have been placed on your permit, you may lodge an application for review of the decision to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).
Applicants must lodge their applications to VCAT within 60 days of decision and objectors within 21 days, using the VCAT Application for Review Form available on the VCAT Website
The application for review must be submitted on the official form and accompanied by the prescribed fee. Applications for review should be sent to Administrative Division, Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, 7th Floor, 55 King Street, Melbourne VIC 3000. Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal - VCAT Website
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Can my planning permit be extended?
A condition on your planning permit will set down the time period the use or development needs to be commenced. The permit will expire if this time limit is exceeded. An extension to this time can be applied for within three months of expiry by downloading and completing the Extension of Time form available at the Planning Building Forms Page
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Can my planning permit be amended before commencement?
Under the new provisions of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 which were gazetted on 23rd May 2005, you must now apply for an amendment to a planning permit using the application form below (except in the case of Section 72(3) requests - see below).
An application for an amendment to a planning permit (and/or its associated plans) is processed in the same way that other applications for planning permits are processed. Note that a decision is made as to whether the proposed amendment is likely to impact on any other property and if it is determined that an impact is possible or likely, the council will require that public notifications of the application be given to those properties.
Decisions made about applications to amend a planning permit are like decisions made in respect of other planning permits. For instance, if objections are received, you will receive a Notice of Decision. Appeal rights are the same for applications for amended permits and other applications.
Planning Building Forms Page
If you are only seeking a very minor amendment to a plan associated with a planning permit issued prior to 23rd August 2005, you may still do this as a request for amendment (rather than a formal application). This type of request is known as a Section 62(3) request. A Section 62(3) request form can be found below.
Note that the request process can be applied to amendments to plans only, must relate to a permit issued prior to 23 August 2005 and the amendments must be minor (that is, will not impact on any other property and therefore does not need to be advertised).
For any amendment to a plan associated with a planning permit issued after 23 August 2005, you must make application for the amendment using the "Application for an Amendment to a Planning Permit" form.
Planning Building Forms Page
Please note that
- If you are seeking an amendment to a condition on a permit - the application process must be used
- If you are seeing an amendment to a permit issued by order of VCAT, then you must apply to VCAT for the amendment under Section 87 of the Planning and Environment Act.
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How do I submit plans to comply with planning permit conditions?
Conditions of your permit may require you to submit additional plans or other material for endorsement. For example, Condition 1 of a permit often requires amended plans to be submitted. The "Plans to Comply with Planning Permit Conditions" form must be completed and must outline how the submitted plans comply with the requirements of the permit condition.
Planning Building Forms Page
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Fast Track applications
A number of planning applications are considered to be minor (such as painting of heritage buildings and minor works applications) and are able to be processed without advertising or the need for external referrals. This means that they are able to be dealt with much more quickly than standard planning applications.
Council has a Fast Track planner who is dedicated to the task of dealing with these files for minor categories of applications (see below).
What Applications are classified as Fast Track files?
Applications not requiring advertising or external referrals may be able to be classified as Fast Track files. These may include:
- Fences
- Painting of a building in a Heritage Overlay
- Air conditioners and other service units
- Landscaping and swimming pools
- Garden sheds and pergolas
- Some minor building works or additions
- Some advertising signage
ONLY APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED WITH ALL THE REQUIRED INFORMATION WILL BE ALLOCATED TO THE FAST TRACK PROCESS.
TO AVOID UNNECESSARY DELAYS YOU ARE ENCOURAGED TO DISCUSS YOUR PROPOSAL WITH COUNCIL'S PLANNING STAFF PRIOR TO SUBMITTING YOUR APPLICATION.
The minimum information required to be submitted is as follows:
- Completed Application Form
- Current full copy of Certificate of Title (obtained within the last three months)
- Prescribed fee. Minor applications that are eligible for the Fast Track service will incur a $100 fee for service provided the cost of development is
- $10,000.00 or less for both residential & development sites. Please check with a planning business support officer before formal lodgement.
- Photographs of the subject site and the street (optional but highly desirable).
- All information as noted in the following Checklists for Planning Permit Applications:
- Air conditioning and other service units
- Fences
- Minor alterations and additions
- Paining a building covered by a Heritage Overlay
- Signage
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More information
The Community Guide to Planning is a brochure to help you make sense of the planning process. The six-part guide provides a background on who to talk to, what to consider, where to find the information and likely timing of the steps. The Community Guide to Planning is available at council offices.
To check the status and view details of a current application please visit Council's Planning Permit Application Register
If you wish to view a completed file, please go to the Planning Building Forms Page, download and complete the required form and then forward it to the Planning Department (Note: fees apply if you are not the current owner of the property).
Click here for more information on our Sustainable Design Assessment Process
Information about the range of resources available to help you understand the qualities and characteristics of Port Phillip's neighbourhoods is available on the Urban Icons page.
The Glossary of Planning Terms explains some of the planning terminology. Access it at the Planning Building Forms Page.
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Contact Us
Use eServices to ask us a question, request information or give us feedback online. If you prefer call ASSIST on (03) 9209 6777 or (03) 9209 6713 and ask for the Planning & Building. Alternatively, visit us at the Port Phillip Council, St Kilda Town Hall, Cnr Carlisle Street & Brighton Road, ST KILDA VIC 3182
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