Gerald Lynch and Zoe Moffatt
Hume council has welcomed the Victorian government’s housing statement, while advocating for communities to remain at the centre of decision making amid plans to clear the backlog of housing permits and streamline planning decisions.
Premier Daniel Andrews announced the housing statement on Wednesday, September 20, which the government hopes will clear a backlog of 1400 housing permit applications that have been stuck with councils for more than six months.
Residential developments worth over $50 million in Melbourne and $15 million in regional Victoria that set aside at least 10 per cent for social housing will be assessed by the planning minister rather than councils. The change aims to speed up application assessments from more than a year to four months.
Granny flats or dwelling garden untis won’t require permits if they’re less than 60 square metres.
There will also be new residential standards to allow council planners to quickly approve permits for houses that meet requirements.
Hume mayor Joseph Haweil welcomed the announcement, but said more information was needed to properly assess the impact on the community.
“Hume… councillors play an important role in understanding the wants and needs of residents, particularly when it comes to representing community views about the future of their neighbourhoods,” he said.
“We will be strongly advocating for the state government to ensure that communities remain at the centre of decision making and that their voices are heard. Particularly around third-party appeal rights in respect of applications that may be fast-tracked under the proposed facilitation programs.”
Cr Haweil said growth area councils such as Hume are already doing the heavy lifting to create homes for growing populations.
“In the past year alone, council approved 3000 new homes to be built in Hume.
“The majority of these applications, some 1000, were assessed and approved by officers under delegation, with only 17 applications needing to be approved by council in the chamber.”
State government has indicated it was aware there needs to be increased opportunties for affordable housing throughout Melbourne, and will prioritise areas with higher levels of need, including Greenvale North and Merrifield North.
Whittlesea council was also contacted for comment on the planning changes.
