Referral authorities have an important role in providing recommendations and conditions when reviewing planning applications. When a Council requests comments, a referral authority is required to respond in writing indicating that either there is no objection to issue a permit, no objection subject to conditions or an objection under specific grounds.
When a response by a referral authority is provided, it is done so under the lens of the professional knowledge, experience and area of specialization of the referral authority. It is also very likely that whoever prepared and reviewed the response is not privy to the history, detail and circumstances of an application at a site-specific level.
This is where the understanding and role of a planner at Council is called upon to determine which conditions recommended by a referral authority are appropriate to include in a permit by distinguishing between conditions that are:
- required based on the category of referral authority;
- recommended and would contribute to a beneficial outcome;
- recommended but not applicable to the proposed development; and
- not required and are covered outside of planning regulations.
Section 55 of the Planning and Environment Act provides the mechanism for planning applications to be sent to referral authorities and for referral authorities to categorised in a planning schemes as determining or recommending. Section 66 in all planning schemes lists the type of application to be sent to a referral authority and whether comments/conditions from that referral authority are determining or recommending.
Conditions that are required to be included in a planning permit are those from a determining referral authority. Conditions provided by a recommending referral authority create a grey area. Conditions from a recommending referral authority can often be general and could apply to any proposal. These conditions may not have a direct relationship to the outcome of the proposed development and at times can make it difficult for the applicant to satisfy a condition.
Under the Victoria Building Act 1993, building surveyors have the ability to identify performance solutions that meet the intent to the Building Act. If a condition is included in a planning permit that crosses into the realm of the Building Act, the condition in the planning permit must be applied. The building surveyor loses the flexibility to consider and provide a better solution at the detailed design stage.
Providing a set of clear concise conditions in a planning permit make implementation mor efficient for both Council and the applicant. At the planning application stage, which is an early stage of a development, it is important to obtain comments from referral authorities, and to consider and apply them in the context of achieving a beneficial development outcome.
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