Planning process in detail

• Find out about the zones and overlays that apply to the land. You can get a Planning Property Report for your specific property. 
• Find out about the Maroondah Planning scheme and see the policies that relate to your application.
• Talk to a planning officer at Council
  Find out whether Council is likely to support the proposal and discuss changes that may be necessary to make the proposal more acceptable.  Also look at our page about Environmentally Sustainable Design.
• Talk to the neighbours
  It can sometimes be good idea to have a chat to your neighbours about your plans to gauge how they feel about them. This often saves a lot of time later down the track if small changes can be made to address their concerns early on.
• Consider getting professional advice
  This will help you develop your ideas and designs so they meet Council's expectations and are individually tailored to your property, as well and helping you to determine the type and detail of the information you will need to prepare and submit with an application.
• See our page Do I need a planning permit? You can also arrange to get planning advice from Council. Options include speaking to a planning officer, submitting a Planning Information Request, or applying for Planning pre-application advice.

• Complete an application form, ensuring that the owner or authorised agent has signed the application and that the owner of the land is aware of the application. See How to apply for more details on what is needed

Apply for a Planning  Permit
If the application is assessed as a VicSmart application, it will be assessed more quickly, and at a lower cost.  Find out more about VicSmart permit applications.

• pay the appropriate fee
  Note: Statutory Planning fees are not subject to GST.

More information needed?

• Council officers undertake an initial assessment of the application to see if enough information has been supplied to make a decision.
• If you do not give enough detail or give a suitable description of the proposal, you will be asked for more information. This will delay your application.
• See the application page for a list of what is needed in your application.

Need to amend your application?

You can apply to amend your permit application by submitting a Section 50 amendment to a current planning application.

Not all applications are required to give notice but, if required, the application will be advertised for at least 14 days.

• This is usually by letter to neighbours and a sign on-site, and sometimes by advertisement in local newspaper
• Plans will be published on this website, in our Planning applications lists.
• People affected can object to the application.
• Additional fees apply for the advertising service.

• Any objections are considered.
• A public planning consultation meeting is held with Councillors if needed.
• Any referral comments are considered.
• Planning scheme provisions are assessed.

Status of planning applications

You can view the status of planning applications online - see our planning applications lists.

Need to amend an application currently being considered?

You can ask to amend an application for a Planning Permit that is currently under consideration. 

Council may issue:

• a permit with conditions
• a Notice of Decision to grant a permit with conditions. This is issued if there were objectors to the permit application
• a refusal.

A planning permit normally contains a written permit document and a set of endorsed plans:

• The written document usually includes conditions that must be met, eg: the submission of new plans showing required changes or the maximum number of patrons for a restaurant.
• The plans are drawings of what has been approved under the permit, eg: the floor plans, elevations and landscaping plans of a multi dwelling development.

Planning decisions

You can view planning decisions online from our planning application lists

Planning enforcement

See what happens when  a breach of the Planning Scheme occurs on our planning enforcement page

You can lodge an application for review to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) if:

• your permit application is refused by Council
• the decision contains conditions you’re not happy about
• a decision hasn’t been made in time
• you’re an objector and Council has issued a Notice of Decision to grant a planning permit.

See more about requesting a review by VCAT

Once a Planning Permit has been issued by Council, you can request to amend the permit or endorsed plans, or request an extension of time:

• Amend an approved Planning Permit
• Request an extension of time

Planning History Requests

You can apply for a copy of a planning permit or for the endorsed plans. Planning History Request