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Project & site review
Understand the brief, the property, surrounding context and the information available at the outset.
Professional Town Planners & Design Consultants
We support projects in Victoria and South Australia. Here is an overview of how a planning or development application can move from early site review through planning assessment, documentation, lodgement and decision.
A planning application is rarely one isolated task. The work typically moves through a sequence of site review, planning assessment, design response and coordinated application material before lodgement and assessment.
Understand the brief, the property, surrounding context and the information available at the outset.
Identify the relevant planning controls, policy considerations and project-specific approval pathway.
Test siting, scale, massing, interfaces and other planning considerations before the application is finalised.
Coordinate the relevant drawings, planning material and supporting information for lodgement and assessment.
The exact process, documentation and approval pathway varies depending on the project, site and jurisdiction.
We check the property's planning scheme, zones and overlays to identify why a permit is required and whether every permit trigger qualifies for VicSmart. Eligible VicSmart applications follow a focused assessment without public advertising. Other applications may require referrals, notice to neighbours and consideration of objections. We prepare the drawings and planning response for the applicable process. Some decisions, permit conditions and delays can be reviewed at VCAT, subject to eligibility and time limits.
We check the Planning and Design Code and prepare documentation for the relevant pathway. Development may be accepted, code assessed or impact assessed; some minor work is exempt. Code assessed applications include deemed-to-satisfy and performance assessed proposals. Performance assessment may involve public notification and referrals. Applications can be lodged and tracked through PlanSA. Planning consent and building consent are distinct, and the required consents must be in place before final development approval.
Read PlanSA's assessment pathways ↗ and approval stages ↗.
We review the project brief, site context and available property information, and identify the planning matters likely to shape the approval pathway.
Relevant planning controls, policy considerations, zones, overlays and other site-specific requirements are reviewed to establish the planning context.
Where relevant, siting, scale, setbacks, interfaces and massing are tested against the planning context and project objectives.
Planning drawings, reports and supporting material within our scope are prepared or coordinated, with other consultant inputs incorporated where required.
Where engaged to do so, we coordinate lodgement and liaise with the relevant assessment authority during assessment, including responses to requests for further information where required.
Once a decision is issued, we can review relevant planning conditions and discuss the next steps. Further approvals, amendments or consultant input may be required depending on the project.
No. Eligibility and a complete application matter. Ten business days is the prescribed period after which an applicant may seek review of a failure to decide. A timely request for further information can stop and restart that clock. It is not a guaranteed approval date. See the official VicSmart guidance ↗.
Timing depends on the proposal, assessment pathway, completeness, referrals, public notice and revisions. Statutory assessment periods do not necessarily equal the total time from first enquiry to approval. We can identify the likely stages once we have reviewed your property and proposal. Read Victoria's permit process ↗ and PlanSA's timeframes ↗.