Council
11 July, 2025
Voices lost on multi-storey development
RESIDENTS and council will no longer have a voice in future housing development applications up to three storeys.
A recently introduced state government planning amendment means that developments that meet new Victorian Government standards will no longer be decided on at Warrnambool City Council meetings.
This, effectively, bypasses councils and local residents.
The same rules also apply to developments with multiple dwellings on a single lot.
Under changes to the Townhouse and Low-rise Code, if developments meet a set of codified standards, council must approve them.
Local residents have also effectively lost the ability to object to these developments for reasons such as public amenity or neighbourhood character.
At its July meeting, the Warrnambool City Council voted to delegate the powers to approve these developments to the council’s Manager City Growth.
“Unfortunately with these changes, there is no point in these applications coming to council meetings anymore because our ability to make decisions on them has been completely stripped away,” Warrnambool mayor Cr Ben Blain said.
“What is known as ‘Clause 55’ has been changed, so now all of the requirements are quantitative.
“There’s no room for local knowledge or local values. There will still be a public exhibition process where residents can lodge objections, but essentially, we are obligated to approve all applications that are deemed to comply with the Victorian Government’s standards, regardless of how many objections are received.”
Cr Blain said objectors won’t then be able to appeal to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
He believes the state government has made the changes to help create more houses in the state sooner, but they had not gotten the balance right.
“We all want to see more houses built to give more people somewhere to live,” Cr Blain said.
“We know how tight the housing market is, but I don’t think taking away the community’s voice is the way to do it.
“Neighbourhood character isn’t something that can be determined by a set or criteria, it’s determined by the neighbourhoods themselves.
“What works to encourage multi-storey developments in Melbourne doesn’t necessarily work for the regions.”
Cr Blain added that for the residents that this change will have an impact on, all councillors were deeply sympathetic.
“Developments up to three storeys high, or with multiple dwellings on a single lot, are no longer within our control.”
