The requirements for planning applications are set out in the planning scheme and Planning and Environment Act. 

Applying for a planning permit means completing an application form, providing a recent copy of the title, paying the council assessment fee and providing the information set out in the local planning scheme and required by the council, to support the application.

You can deal directly with council and do your own application or use VSPPAS to do it on your behalf.

If you want written advice from a Town Planning Consultant regarding whether a proposal needs a planning permit or is exempt, or, if you need a permit, what the planning application requirements are, then you are ready to start using Victorian Smart Planning – Permit Application Services:

It’s the simplest way to get a planning permit.

How to get a planning permit?

To apply for a planning permit directly to a local council in Victoria:

1. Check to see if the proposed use or development needs a planning permit. This can be done by a Town Planner, like VSPPAS, usually for a fee, or with the local council for free. Council’s usually to charge a fee and take a couple of weeks to put requirements or exemptions in writing.
2. All planning schemes include a fast-track application process for some types of applications established by the State government, called VicSmart. If a proposal is eligible for VicSmart, the council will tell you. A VicSmart application means a council permit decision in 10 business days. A handful of councils have their own additional conditional fast track planning permit application processes. Otherwise, planning permits take 60 statutory days … which usually translates to 3-6 months for a planning permit to be issued.
3. Councils will sometimes advise what information is required to support a planning permit application. Some councils will provide you with an application form and/or checklist, and others may point you to a clause in the planning scheme. Some councils don’t assist at all.
4. Councils accept planning permit applications and council application fee payments in different ways. You’ll either complete a form or lodge online with all the required information.
5. When an application is lodged, councils usually respond within a week or so to confirm that the application is acceptable and that it has been allocated to a planner.
6. Within in 28 days, the council will usually issue an RFI – Request Further Information. This letter includes information required for an assessment.
7. Once the council is satisfied with the information supplied to support the application, if advertising is required, this must be organised. Some councils provide this service, others don’t.
8. Any unresolved objections change a council’s decision from issuing a permit to issuing a Notice of Decision, which states their intention to allow objections to be raised with VCAT for a period of 28 days.
9. If no review of the council decision is lodged with VCAT, the council will issue their decision or permit.

To find out more about dealing with a council directly, from contact details to how a council accepts applications and fees, type the council’s name below:

If you are looking for the State government’s information on how the  planning scheme works and how to get a planning permit, much of which is explained in the planning permit FAQs on this site, you’ll find it here: Guide to Victoria’s Planning System.