To help the municipality City of Yarra with an anticipated increase in numbers of planning applications relating to properties in Heritage Overlay areas, we worked with the council on recommendations for appropriate permit exemptions. Implementation is through an incorporated plan — a scheduled item in the local planning scheme.

The council was looking to identify works that are either minor or are typically assessed through the current internal fast-track processes. If introduced, the plan will mean that many such proposals may be exempted from the planning permit process, speeding up the whole system.

Our contribution included a review of Yarra’s heritage precincts and planning permit data. We also studied the municipality’s planning scheme provisions to eliminate conflicts with proposed exemptions, and undertook field ‘testing’ of the draft exemptions, before preparation of the draft incorporated plan.

The development of the plan was a consultative process, and we worked closely with the council’s statutory planners.