In late February 2025, the state government announced the imminent release of VC267 as ‘Automatic’ Approvals To Deliver Townhouse Revolution. From the description of what was coming, and although this has proved not to be the case, it appeared that amendments to the planning scheme had the potential to be introducing a fast track process similar to qualifying for a VicSmart application.
Since the approval of VC267 there has been analysis of how changes to the standards may contribute to a quicker more efficient assessment process and an increase in the supply of housing. A revision of the standards in Clause 55 have resulted in a prescriptive, deemed to comply approach that should reduce the review timeline. There is also the potential to revive development proposals that were not previously approved that may now meet the standards and loosen up housing supply.
In Victoria, Councils have a statutory requirement to determine a planning permit application within 60 days. To date there has been no indication that this requirement will change as the 60 day timeline remains in place. In the February 2024 media release, there were statements that can be drawn upon to understand the governments expectation that how, if not mandated, the new Clause 55 will impact review timelines.
The media release recognised that (t)he average assessment time for a planning permit is 145 days – well over the statutory deadline. In a quote attributed to the Minister for Planning Sonya Kilkenny, the new Clause 55 can reduce planning permit assessment times by at least 60 per cent.
Reducing the assessment time by 60% brings the average assessment time to 58 days, representing a reduction of 87 days from the average time and 2 days from the statutory requirement. The expectation is that as council planners and consultants become familiar with Clause 55, greater efficiencies will be made. Although a reduction of 87 days is a significant achievement, bringing it in line with the statutory requirement tends to deflate expectations and provide the potential for assessment creep to extend beyond the statutory timeframe.
CS Town Planning will continue to monitor how Clause 55 affects our clients’ development proposals and planning application assessment timelines.