The planning permit process

Before you submit your application you may find it helpful to have a pre-application consultation with one of our planners. The purpose of a planning permit pre-application consultation is to give you a chance to discuss your planning permit application with planning officers before you submit it.

You can also:

• Find out about the planning scheme
• Call us and talk to the council duty planner
• Consider getting professional advice

Pre-application Consultation

We strongly encourage you to book a pre application consultation with one of our experienced City Planning team members who will talk you through the application process and what's required for Council to assess your application.

Our team will walk through your application with you raising potential issues as they relate to general design, impacts on neighbouring property, streetscape and a number of other matters.

These consultations are highly beneficial to anyone considering submitting a planning permit application to Council, and can help you avoid unnecessary delays.

To book a pre-application consultation please contact us on 9688 0200 or send us an email to urbanplanning@maribyrnong.vic.gov.au

An application for Planning Permit form must be filled out and lodged with the Council. The application must include all necessary supporting information such as, plans, reports and photographs so that the proposal is fully described and can be understood by all interested parties.

The preferred method to lodge a planning application is online on the portal below. (Please read the relevant instructions before proceeding with the application).

Please have all documentation and plans ready to upload before proceeding. All fees must be paid using a Visa or Mastercard at the end of this process to complete lodgement of the Application.

After we receive your application, we will allocated it to a planner, and provide you with their name and contact details. You can contact the Planner directly for updates, or if you have any related queries. Please note: Council will liaise with the applicant only (the person nominated on the application form).  

After you lodge the application, the planning officer will check it and advise you (in writing) if further information is required. If they do, you should provide the information promptly otherwise the application won't be processed further.

Please note: amendments to existing permits/plans, secondary consent applications and extensions of time cannot be lodged via this portal.

Visit Planning Applications on MyMaribyrnong

As part of the preliminary assessment, the planner will check the application to ensure there is sufficient information to assess the application. If there is not enough information to enable a thorough assessment, the planner may request further information within 28 days of lodgement of the application. A request for further information may also identify any preliminary concerns with the proposal. A timeframe will be given for the information to be provided and if it is not received within the required time frame the application will lapse.

Further information can be provided to Council via email to planningapplications@maribyrnong.vic.gov.au.

Extension of Time to Submit Further Information

Further information is usually required to be submitted to Council within 30 days from the date of the request. If more time is needed t provide the information, a request must be made in writing to the planner before the due date stated in the further information letter outlining the reason for requesting more time.

A request can be provided to Council via email to: urbanplanning@maribyrnong.vic.gov.au.

Council will consider your request for more time and respond by letter or email. If the request is approved, a new date will be specified by which the information must be provided.

Missing the due date for further information

If you do not provide all the requested information or request in writing more time before the due date, your application will lapse. This means that you will have to submit a new planning permit application which will also include payment of the application fee.

Receipt of further information

Once the requested further information is received, the application will proceed to the next stage of the process, which includes consideration of whether or not public notification (advertising) of the proposal is required. The application may also need to be referred to external authorities, or internal Council departments for comment.

The Planning Officer will decide whether to undertake public notification/advertising of the application. Any planning application that has the potential to cause material detriment to a person or property will be required to be advertised.

The Statutory Planning team together with an appointed contractor prepares advertising/notification requirements for a set fee. The advertising of a planning application includes some or all of the following:

• Notification by letter to neighbours
• A public notice sign on each frontage of the property, Council's assigned contractor will erect and remove all required public notices on site and take photographic evidence that the notice was on site for the required 14 day period.
• Application documents and plans will be published on Council website for the length of the advertising period.
• Additional advertising may be required if plans are changed throughout the application process.

The application will be on public display for a period of 14 days.

The advertising process provides the opportunity for people to identify in writing any concerns that they have about a planning application. Planning officers are unable to advise on what you should and should not object to.

To ensure Council considers your application, please ensure:

• All relevant contact details (name, address, contact details) and why you are objecting to the proposal
• It is received by the date shown in the notice you were sent or displayed on the site.  Objections received prior to a decision being made will be reviewed and considered as part of the decision making process.

Depending on the number of objections received, there may be further consultation undertaken such as a consultation forum. A consultation forum is another opportunity to have issued discussed in a facilitated meeting. The need for a consultation forum will be determined at the completion of the advertising process, so it is important to submit any objections you have as early as possible to ensure you are invited to attend further consultation opportunities.

Please note – if a petition is received it is the responsibility of the first named person to inform everyone else listed on the petition.

After an objection is lodged 

If you have lodged your objection via the website, you will receive an automated email response from the Statutory Planning Unit. All other responses received will be sent an acknowledgement letter within 10 working days.

Anyone who submit a response will be informed of the outcome of the application in writing.

Once advertising has been completed, and (if required) any consultation forum has been held, officers will prepare a report that considers the proposal against the relevant policies and planning scheme requirements, objections, and referral comments and will make a recommendation. The recommendation may be determined at officer level or Council depending on the complexity of the application, number of objections and/or any other determining factor. The difference between a delegated officer decision and a Council decision is explained below.

Delegation:

If a recommendation is approved under delegation, it is signed off by an authorised Council Planning Officer.

Council:

If an application is to be decided by Council, a report to Council will be required to be prepared by the relevant planning officer. This process takes longer as it will need to fit into Maribyrnong Council meeting times and dates, which occur once a month.  An application reported to Council will be decided by all Councillors at a Council meeting.

Decisions made by the City Development Delegated Committee

Council receives between 600-700 planning permit applications per year. To ensure efficient decision making the majority of applications are dealt with via Council’s planning officers under delegation.

On 24 October 2023 the City Development Delegated Committee (CDDC) updated the Urban Planning Delegation Protocols for Planning Applications to ensure transparency, clarity and efficiency. The purpose of this Protocols is to identify those planning applications which may be suitable for consideration by the CDDC.

In general, the following applications will be referred to the CDDC for a decision:

• A value exceeding $10m;
• Receive more than 10 objections from individual properties;
• Building height exceeds four storeys in a residential zone;
• Building height exceeds that specified in any adopted structure plan, zone or overlay; and
• A significant application where the Minister for Planning is the Responsible Authority.

Find out more about the City Development Delegated Committee

Download the Urban Planning Delegation Protocols(PDF, 693KB)

Decision Types

Approval

If there are no objections and the planning officer recommends approval, a planning permit will be issued. An applicant can apply to VCAT within 60 days to have the conditions reviewed.

Notice of decision

If the planning officer recommends approval and there are objections, a notice of decision to grant a permit will be issued. All objectors will be sent a copy of this notice and will have 28 days to lodge an application for review at VCAT, if they wish. The applicant can also apply to VCAT within 60 days to have the conditions reviewed. If no objectors lodge a review with VCAT during this time, Council will grant the planning permit.

Refusal

If the planning officer recommends not to support the application a refusal to grant a permit will be issued. This will be sent to the applicant and all other parties including objectors. The applicant can apply to VCAT within 60 days of the date of the decision to have the decision reviewed.

Objectors and applicants can appeal to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) to review Council’s decision (as explained above) with regard to a planning permit. This includes:

• Appealing against the granting of a permit of a permit
• Appealing against the refusal of a permit
• Appealing the conditions included on a permit 

VCAT will reconsider the whole application from the beginning. Through this process, VCAT becomes the "decision maker" and can overturn a Council decision. You can find out more information about how to apply to VCAT and how the review process works through the VCAT website.

Who can appeal?

If you are a Permit Applicant, you have 60 days from the date of the decision to lodge an appeal to VCAT against a decision.

If you are an Objector, you have 28 days from the date of the Notice of Decision to lodge an appeal to VCAT. This process will require you to submit a statement of grounds outlining why you are appealing the decision.