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Planning schemes specify when a permit is required.
Conversely, a planning scheme may specify that a type of development is exempt from requiring a permit under certain conditions, or it may not specify that a permit is required, that is, there is no permit trigger, and therefore no planning permit is required.
This is not always clear. You may want to set up a new business which involves a change of use, or alter a facade in a Commercial Zone, work in a Heritage Overlay, add a mezzanine, replace signage or construct a dwelling. These sometimes require a permit under certain conditions. Sometimes they are exempt from requiring a permit.
A common example of a proposal that does not require a permit or is exempt because planning schemes do not specify that a permit is required, is for dwelling based on lot size.
In the General Residential Zone, a permit is required to construct or extend one dwelling on a lot of less than 300 square metres.
The zone ordinance says nothing about a permit being required to construct or extend one dwelling for lots greater than 300 square meters, and therefore, no planning permit is required to construct or extend one dwelling on a lot greater than 300 square meters. It’s not an exemption, it’s just that no permit is required. But a building permit will still be required.
This is intended to not hold up development unnecessarily by requiring a planning permit. The parts of the planning scheme to do with ResCode (residential design controls) are replicated in Building Regulations, and this will become evident through the building permit process.
Another example that is a little more obvious is the permit requirement to remove a tree or vegetation in the Vegetation Protection Overlay (VPO).
A permit is required to remove, destroy or lop any vegetation specified in the schedule to this overlay. If the proposal is to remove vegetation not specified in the schedule, it is therefore exempt from requiring a permit.
Other exemptions are less implied and more specific, such as planning permit exemptions in the general provisions, or exemptions specified in the schedules to zones or overlays.
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.