10 minute read
Planning as an ‘economic enabler’ through the pandemic period
Conference Planning as an ‘economic enabler’ through the pandemic period
Julian Lyngcoln, Deputy Secretary, DELWP
This is an edited transcript from Julian Lyngcoln’ s conference presentation
Planning as an Economic Enabler, was actually a topic chosen a year ago in the midst of the pandemic. But a year on and three months out from a State election, plus, welcoming a new Planning Minister, it was a good time to reflect on the significant role that planning has played through the pandemic.
We’ve helped to keep industries like construction running, helped businesses to keep their doors open (and footpaths in many cases) and keep staff employed. Economic analysis shows the work that we did assisted development activity to the value of 18 and a half billion dollars at a time where the economy most needed it and generated 436 million of state gross value.
We like to talk about the things that planning delivers in terms of outcomes, sustainability, livability, good urban form, heritage. There was a real task for the government to use its planning functions to keep the economy going at a very difficult time. So, what did we achieve over that period, and what can we learn from that; to bring to our ‘business as usual’ mode? And as we move into the next phase, can we build on the efficiencies we implemented, without losing those outcomes that are so important?
Population and growth in the regions
Victoria continues to demonstrate each year that it’s a great place to live, but the pandemic had an impact on our population growth. For the very first time in a very long time, we saw a minor decrease in population compared to the previous year. With international borders reopening, we will return to our previous growth rates. Our budget papers are projecting Victoria’s population growth rate to return to normal by ‘23, ‘24, at 1.6% per annum. Overseas migration ‘ticked’ back over into the positive again, in the first half of this year. This supports the projection that we’ll return to growth in the coming year.
From Melbourne, people moved out to our regions. We also saw huge demand in Melbourne’s growth areas, with record land sales, at least partly driven by pandemic-era of financial stimulus.
Population movement from Melbourne to the regions was strong before the pandemic and remains so now. In the year up to March ‘21, around 20,000 people moved from Melbourne to regional Victoria. Around 45% of that regional growth was concentrated in our regional cities of Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo. Geelong grew by about 2.3%, Ballarat by 1.7% and Bendigo by 1.6%. We also saw about 45% of our regional growth found in the periurban areas. So, Surf Coast Shire up over 4%, along with Bass Coast Shire, and Baw Baw. People headed for the coast during the pandemic. Dwelling approvals in regional cities remain at record levels of almost 10,000 in the 12 months to March ‘22, pretty similar to the previous 12 months. We also saw growth in our smaller centres with over 400 approvals in Wodonga, and 300 in Warrnambool.
In response to the growth in regional Victoria, DELWP provided direct support to councils through the regional planning hubs. That was a program that provided statutory and strategic planning support and resources to the 48 rural and regional councils, to help them plan and develop their municipalities.
We found that handing money over to regional councils wasn’t necessarily the answer. Many councils struggled even if they’ve got the cash, to get professional people in. Councils were looking for staff that could come in and do the work. Through this program we were able to support and provide professional development. The funding included accredited training courses and attendance at conferences.
We have assisted 43 of the 48 rural councils through the program. As of May, we’d received 129 requests from 43 councils. We have completed 13 statutory planning contracts and have another 10 underway. The statutory planning support team has assisted decision making on development applications with an estimated value of a hundred million dollars.
Development Facilitation Program (DFP)
The DFP applies generally across the State. This program is an outcome of the Building Victoria’s Recovery Taskforce. It was set up early in the pandemic to advise government on emergency response to the COVID pandemic. Following the success of a pilot program, the Minister for Planning established a development facilitation program within DELWP in late 2020, to support investment in jobs growth and to drive the economy.
Since 2020, 39 projects have been approved, worth over 4 billion dollars being brought forward. That will create almost 18,000 jobs, create a couple of thousand dwellings. Sixteen of those projects have now commenced construction. A key criterion for that program was for ‘shovel-ready’ projects.
The average approval time for projects under the DFP is about four months. This compares to an average of around 12 months were these projects required to go through a traditional permit process. As well as being shovel-ready projects, we were looking for projects that also delivered on some government policy outcomes as well. So, in sectors such as health, education, regional housing and employment, visitor economy, arts, and
recreation. And, they had to meet minimum thresholds of value or scale.
A few examples are redevelopment of the Caulfield Racecourse, the Jewish Arts Quarter facility in Elsternwick, a major sports recreation facility in La Trobe University’s Bundoora campus, the Akenhead Center for Medical Discovery in Fitzroy, Warringal Private Hospital in Heidelberg and Australia’s first education and therapeutic support facility for children with autism and their families.
Approval pathways re-engineering
In addition, we have looked at policy and process reforms that we can make to really bring efficiency to the planning system, i.e., how we take time out of the processes?
We put new pathways in place for key infrastructure facilities, for transport projects, renewable energy projects and others. We have reduced timeframes for considering planning scheme amendments and we are facilitating apartment housing.
The State projects assessment pathway in Cl. 52.30 has facilitated ambulance stations, public sector aged care facilities, along with multiple transport projects. There is also a Local Government projects exemption in Cl.52.31 for councils, from planning requirements on things like upgrading parks, creating new sporting and community facilities and providing new libraries and town halls. And given how important housing is, we have a significant new assessment pathway to support the 5.3 billion dollar big housing build. These changes have not been without contention, with the removal of third party appeal rights, particularly in regard to the social and affordable housing applications. There’s a lot of community concern, often at times, about being located close to these projects. Actually, the experience is that these have run reasonably smoothly. It is an incredibly important program. Victoria’s stock of social and affordable housing is pretty low. We’re probably heading towards that being about 3% of the overall stock on the trajectory we’re on, so it is a critical program. We are also working with the federal government as well, to see what can be done further.
We have new approvals pathways for non-government schools, and that’s had huge demand. Non-government schools play a large role in educating Victorian students, with over a third of all primary and secondary students now enrolled in independent schools in 2020. Population projections suggests that schools will need to accommodate more than 97,500 additional students by 2025. It is a big task to keep up with that population growth in terms of education facilities. Since those provisions were introduced, DELWP has approved 81 planning permits with a combined development value of 765 million.
New exemptions and pathways have also been introduced within the Victorian planning provisions. For major road and rail projects, for state transport projects, level crossings, state car parks for commuters, new tram depots, railway stations, and bike paths. We’ve also updated State planning policy for transport to support a more integrated transport system, including introduction of a new Transport Zone.
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Renewable energy
The government has an incredibly ambitious target around renewable energy. The Minister for Planning became the decision maker for all new planning permit applications for large-scale electricity generation facilities. And that includes not just wind farms and solar farms and the like, but batteries, transmission lines, generation facilities, and things like thermal gas and coal. Previously, the Minister for Planning was only responsible for wind and solar. The changes that have been made will ensure that Victoria’s energy transition is appropriately coordinated. The government has granted over 1600 megawatts of wind power, 700 megawatts of solar power and 1500 megawatts of battery storage as a result. And that’s roughly enough power to power approximately 1.36 million homes.
The amendment process
We know that one of the biggest pain points for councils is the time it takes to get through planning scheme amendments. Our performance as a department, on amendments over the last few years, hasn’t been where it needed to be. We are committed to bring those timeframes down. Pleasingly, we have reduced the amount of time to authorize amendments by two thirds since 2020. This will have a big impact on reducing holding costs for landowners and increase certainty for councils. We’ve set about repositioning the department as the premier statutory planning team for amendments, with active case management using digital work and re-allocating resources.
Apartment design incentives
I want to talk a little bit about facilitating apartment housing. Accommodating population growth and the need to really do that in a smarter way rather than just sprawling out further and further out beyond the boundaries of the current suburbs. We have the Better Apartments Standard in place. We are now working on our Future Homes program, an extension on the Better Apartments program. It is looking to combine the aspirations of the design standards to deliver high quality livable and sustainable apartment design. We’ve been working in partnership with the Office of the Victorian Government Architect and have produced four high quality apartment designs or blueprints that include gardens, energy efficiency, and adaptability.
Developers who purchase one of these high-quality designs will be rewarded by receiving access to new simplified planning pathways. That process could halve the usual planning timeframes while creating added planning certainty. The future home designs can be recreated and are scalable. We don’t want it to be too cookie cutter. The designs will need to be adapted to a site. All Future Home apartments will have high sustainability performance, seven and a half star rating, cross ventilation, high levels of daylight, family friendly circulation spaces for prams, and adaptability for changing needs.
Closing
This is a great time to reflect on the significant role that the planning industry has played in helping Victoria respond and recover from the pandemic, and the value that planning contributes to the state.
Moving to the next phase, Victoria’s recovery, we hope to build on the efficiencies we’ve implemented. DELWP will continue to focus on post-pandemic economic recovery, looking at the operation of Rescode, to improving heritage processes, further protecting the green wedges and Victoria’s Distinctive Areas and Landscapes. We will continue to focus on the environmentally sustainable design roadmap, waste and recycling, water, sustainable transport, energy, and climate, designing and implementing the new Victorian Planning Vic website for rollout in 2023, and expanding the Better Planning Approvals program to another 10 councils.
Come November with the State election, we stand ready to work with the incoming government; on what priorities they have to improve Victoria’s planning system and ensure it continues to deliver for all Victorians.
Julian Lyngcoln is Deputy Secretary in the Department of Environment Land, Water and Planning with nearly 20 years experience in State government. Julian is responsible for leading the State’s planning, building and heritage systems.
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