HOBSONS Bay City Council says the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) is damaging neighbourhoods by supporting “development at all costs”.
The council has resolved to analyse recent VCAT planning decisions, believing the tribunal has increasingly overturned planning rulings to put in place the State Government’s Melbourne 2030 policy.
Melbourne 2030 advocates medium density housing in key activity centres, like shopping or transport hubs, to slow urban sprawl in the decades to come.
Mayor Carl Marsich said VCAT was eroding council’s powers as a key planning authority.
“The council is concerned that when issues get to VCAT, its policies are not taken into consideration.
“Some of the outcomes have not been good. It just seems like VCAT believes in development at all costs.”
However, Justice Stuart Morris, president of VCAT, said councils should tread carefully when making unsupported claims that were driven by emotion and not hard data.
He said the reality was that there had been no spike in VCAT decisions against councils, and a detailed analysis, similar to one the VCAT carried out with Bayside Council, was needed to substantiate council’s claims.
“I don’t think there is any substantial change in the way decisions are being determined, so talk about a spike is misplaced,” Justice Morris said.
“It’s very easy to make superficial claims. Just looking at raw figures doesn’t really tell you the full story.”
Justice Morris said that while Melbourne 2030 was an important reference in VCAT decisions, “relevant local and state policies” were also considered.
“Melbourne 2030 is only likely to be important for proposals in an activity centre, where there is a substantial number of apartments,” he said, not smaller developments like town houses built in residential streets.
However, several smaller proposals in Hobsons Bay, like building 11 units in Trembath Court, in Altona Meadows, were taken to VCAT and the council’s decision not to allow construction had been reversed.
Cr Marsich believed some developers now considered the VCAT a way of side-stepping the council’s planning regulations.
“Developers tend to push the limits.
“They’ll push for something they know they won’t get from the council.
“If the developers have got enough money and they can afford good lawyers, then they have a good chance of getting the decision they want at VCAT.”
He said VCAT was not in touch with the local community and not as accountable when making decisions that effected residents.
Hobsons Bay City Council was the eighth most represented local government at VCAT in 2005/06, with 114 matters taken to the tribunal, a figure mirrored in 2005/05.
Williamstown had the most disputes in Hobsons Bay, and was the fifth-most represented suburb in Victoria, with 42 cases heard by the tribunal, up from 35.
VCAT reversed 70 percent of council planning refusals across Victoria in 2005/06, up from 64 percent the previous year.
This trend was reversed when the tribunal ruled against a planning permit already issued by a council, which it did in 63 percent of cases during 2005/06, down from 70 percent in 2004/05.
In both cases VCAT ruled against council planning decisions more often that it agreed with their initial assessment.
