The time it takes Wyndham council to consider a planning application is on the rise, according to recently released data.
According to state government figures, in the 2015-16 financial year it took an average of 108 days for an application to be decided – two weeks more than the state average.
Just 12 months earlier, the average turnaround for a Wyndham application was 65 days – two weeks quicker than the average time taken by Victorian councils at the time.
Wyndham city operations director Stephen Thorpe said the number of planning applications received by council had “increased substantially” in the most recent financial year.
“In the last financial year, Wyndham received 972 planning applications and approved 906,” he said.
Mr Thorpe said the council had reviewed its service in response to the increase and recent state government changes to permit application fees would allow the council to increase its resources, which should reduce processing times. The most common planning permit applications in Wyndham are for subdivisions, construction of more than one dwelling on a lot and warehouse developments.
Meanwhile, the data also reveals that just 64 per cent of planning matters that end up before Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) are ruled in the council’s favour. Mr Thorpe was not fazed by the remaining 36 per cent.
“Council’s record when it comes to VCAT rulings simply shows that VCAT has a fair process … making a decision based on the merits of the application, not who the applicant is,” Mr Thorpe said.
“Considering that council made decisions on 972 planning applications [in 2015-16] and only 25 of these were taken to VCAT, we consider this a very good result.”
