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Get Involved.
Stay Informed. Speak Up.

Planning Reforms

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  • What is the “Plan for Victoria”? [Read More]

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    Released on 28 February 2025, Plan for Victoria is the State Government’s new long-term planning strategy. It replaces Plan Melbourne 2017–2050 and all regional growth plans. The Plan sets out how Victoria will grow over the coming decades.

     

    The State Government is promising that the Activity Centre program and other planning reforms will significantly increase the supply of social and affordable housing.

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    Housing Targets

    The Plan sets housing targets for every local council. Moonee Valley must deliver 47,500 additional dwellings by 2051 – representing 85% increase of current housing stock.

     

    Key Concerns

    • Infrastructure impact not assessed: The Plan does not consider transport, schools, green space, flood risk, or services.

    • Lack of transparency and consultation: Communities and councils have had minimal input.

    • Neighbourhood character at risk: Blanket rezoning and high-rise permissions will change low-rise suburbs.

    • No business case to deliver increased and affordable housing: The Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry in May 2025 found that “Little convincing evidence was advanced to the Inquiry that the State Government’s announced planning changes will guarantee additional housing. and no substantive evidence was advanced that the Government’s plan would with certainty provide additional affordable housing.”

     

    Major Planning Reforms at a Glance

     

    Activity Centres [Read More]

    • 60 designated Activity Centres across Greater Melbourne (including North Essendon, Niddrie)

    • Up to 360,000 new dwellings targeted in these initial 60 centres by 2051

    • More centres to be added – maps show up to 130 centres across greater Melbourne targeting 1,674,400 new dwellings

     

    ResCode Reforms [Read More]

    • Overall changes to ResCode that affect all Victorian landowners

    • New Townhouse & Low-Rise Code: Allows 3-storey developments with relaxed setbacks, reduced overshadowing rules, and fewer community rights

    • “Deemed to comply” approvals: Fast-tracked developments with no VCAT appeal rights for neighbours

     

    Planning & Environment (Better Decisions Made Faster) Bill 2025 [Read More]

    • More power, less accountability: the Planning Minister can rewrite planning rules with minimal oversight

    • Reduced community and council influence: limited notice, fewer objections, and faster approvals with less local input

    • Risks to land and transparency: covenants weakened, 3–6 storey developments allowed next door, and less oversight across Victoria

     

    Council Role Diminished

    • Councils risk losing decision-making power if housing targets are unmet

    • Local Council input into planning significantly reduced

    • Public oversight mechanisms (e.g. VCAT) often bypassed

  • Due to state-wide planning reforms, Moonee Valley is undergoing major planning changes that are reshaping neighbourhoods, homes, and communities. Reforms in local zoning, ResCode, and state planning law are now in effect, giving developers more power and residents fewer protections.

     

    North Essendon & Niddrie Growth [Read More]

     

    The North Essendon and Niddrie Activity Centres are absorbing a significant share of Moonee Valley’s future housing. Suburbs affected include Airport West, Essendon, Essendon North, Niddrie, and Strathmore. 

     

    As of 11 April 2025, new zoning and building height rules apply. Residents face:

    • Taller buildings and increased density

    • Reduced privacy and sunlight

    • Fewer rights to object to developments

     

    The State Government has set a target of 47,500 new homes in Moonee Valley by 2051 which is an 85% increase in current dwellings.

     

    The State Government’s map shows North Essendon and Niddrie Activity Centres and their 800 m catchments, highlighting areas affected by the first stage of planning reforms. 

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    ResCode Reforms [Read More]

     

    ResCode, which governs most residential development in Victoria, including townhouses, units, and low-rise apartments, has already changed.

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    Checklist-style Approvals

    • ResCode now operates as a “deemed-to-comply” checklist system, meaning developments that meet the requirements must be approved, regardless of neighbourhood impact.

    • Residents lose the right to appeal to VCAT.

     

    Lower Planning and Design Standards

    • Reduced front and side setbacks

    • Increased site coverage, up to 80% of a block

    • Weakened protections against overshadowing and overlooking

    • Fewer requirements for trees and landscaping

    • Local character considerations removed

    • Minimal community notification or input

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    Planning & Environment (Better Decisions Made Faster) Bill 2025 [Read More]

     

    The Better Decisions Bill is in effect, rewriting the Planning & Environment Act 1987 and giving the Minister for Planning more power while reducing accountability and local input.

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    Concentration of Power

    • The Minister for Planning can rewrite planning rules with limited Parliamentary oversight

    • Local councils lose influence over decisions that shape neighbourhood character and land use

     

    Reduced Community Rights

    • Limits the community’s right to be notified or object to high-impact developments, including rezonings and increased building heights

    • Enables 3–6 storey developments next door without council notice, letters, objections, or community input

     

    Weakened Local Governance

    • Forces faster decisions on complex developments with less scrutiny and reduced use of local knowledge

    • Undermines restrictive covenants, putting residential and agricultural land at risk of development previously prevented by local agreements

     

    Reduced Transparency

    • Removes requirements for the Minister to be accountable to Parliament for changes to planning rules

    • Raises environmental risks, such as flooding, with limited oversight

     

    No Evidence of Housing Benefits

    • The Bill does not guarantee more housing or more affordable housing

    • It primarily removes checks, balances, and residents’ rights

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    Impact on Communities

     

    These changes are transforming Victorian communities affecting the character and liveability of established suburbs:

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    • Residents have fewer rights to object or appeal planning decisions

    • Contravenes heritage overlays and restrictive covenants

    • High-density developments on residential streets

    • Green space, privacy, and sunlight are reduced

    • Reduced liveability, strain on infrastructure, and increased environmental impact

     

    Moonee Valley is also experiencing a fundamental shift. These reforms are not just about housing delivery. They reshape how communities live, interact, and thrive, often with minimal transparency or accountability.

  • Charter 29 [Read More]

     

    Charter 29 is a collective of planning and urban design professionals, led by renowned expert Michael Buxton, working independently to improve urban planning in Victoria. The group advocates for a more democratic, balanced, and sustainable planning system, one shaped by genuine community input and delivering transparent, accountable outcomes.

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    Charter 29 has proposed an alternative approach to managing Melbourne’s growth, showing how housing for 8 million people by 2050 can be delivered without dismantling essential planning protections or undermining the rights and values of local communities.

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    Their detailed report, Victoria’s Planning System 2025: Reforming the Reforms, draws on five years of research, advocacy, and analysis. The report challenges the need for the most radical overhaul of the planning system in three decades, demonstrating that government housing targets can be met through smarter, community-informed planning – preserving liveability, environmental sustainability, and neighbourhood character.

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    More homes, more choice – The Liberals and Nationals [Read More]

     

    In February 2026, the Victorian Liberals and Nationals announced their new plan to deliver more homes, more choice, and greater housing affordability for all Victorians, which includes:

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    • Fast-tracking home building in existing, identified growth areas – cutting red tape and releasing land faster in growth areas.

    • Rejuvenating Melbourne CBD as a place to live and work – expanding the Capital City Zone (CCZ) to enable more development, housing, and economic opportunity.

    • Restoring the local voice to planning in middle and outer suburbs – giving councils and communities a real say in how suburbs grow.

    • Building new homes in our regional centres – delivering more homes in growing regional communities.

     

    MV2040 Vision & Strategy - Moonee Valley City Council [Read More]

     

    Moonee Valley City Council’s MV2040 Vision & Strategy sets the long-term direction for Moonee Valley, responding to growth, climate change, and changing community needs. First adopted in 2018, the strategy was refreshed in 2025 to add ‘liveability’ as a key focus – giving Council greater flexibility to respond to state planning reforms on housing and land use.

  • LMV supports sustainable growth and sensible planning to address Victoria’s housing needs. However, we have serious concerns about the current reforms being pushed through by the State Government.

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    These reforms are part of a broader statewide debate: how do we balance the urgent need for more housing with protecting neighbourhood character, liveability, and democratic planning processes?

     

    We believe the current approach fails to strike that balance.

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    Key Objections to the Planning Reforms

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    1. Inappropriate building heights: Allowing up to 10 storey developments in our neighbourhood is excessive, poorly scaled, and inappropriate.

    2. Reduced protections for neighbours: Relaxed setbacks and overshadowing standards significantly impact privacy, sunlight access, and overall liveability.

    3. Infrastructure and services under pressure: The reforms fail provide additional infrastructure to support the significant growth. Infrastructure which is already strained.

    4. Removal of local council oversight: By transferring key planning powers away from councils, the reforms undermine community engagement, and local knowledge, which are essential for better decision making.

    5. “Deemed-to-Comply” fast-track provisions: Developments that meet minimum design criteria bypass normal planning scrutiny, removing residents’ rights to object, and enabling approvals without regard for neighbourhood context.

     

    Process Concerns

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    • No meaningful consultation with local councils, communities, or planning experts

    • No transparency around how housing targets were set

    • No publicly released infrastructure impact reports covering transport, schools, drainage, open space, or essential services

     

    These omissions raise serious questions about the evidence base for the reforms.

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    Failure to Justify or Build Consensus

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    By fast-tracking these reforms, the State Government has:

    • Failed to build consensus with key stakeholders

    • Not justified decisions to the community

    • Not analysed impacts on infrastructure and essential services

     

    These are not optional extras; they are fundamental to building sustainable, liveable communities.

     

    Affordable Housing Loophole

     

    The reforms introduce a fast-track approval pathway for large developments offering 10% affordable housing, allowing them to go directly to the Minister for approval.

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    However, developers can opt out of this obligation by making a token 3% financial contribution, calculated only on the cost of labour and materials.

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    This loophole undermines the policy, making it unlikely to result in genuine affordable housing and not a viable solution to the housing crisis.

     

    Lower Building Standards Across Victoria

     

    The new building codes for Townhouses & Low-Rise (up to 3 storeys) and Mid-Rise (4–6 storeys) dramatically reduce:

    • Liveability and amenity

    • Tree canopy and green space

    • Private open space

    • Protections against overlooking and overshadowing

    • Environmental sustainability standards

    • Years of locally developed planning policies

     

    These reforms weaken fundamental planning protections, putting neighbourhood character and community wellbeing at risk.

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