By VICTORIA STONE-MEADOWS
THE State Government has introduced changes to the way Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) assesses the social impacts a future development may have on a community.
The Recognising Objectors Bill 2015 introduces a new decision-making consideration into the Planning and Environment Act 1987 that requires VCAT to recognise the number of objections and grounds for concern to be considered along with a development’s planning merits.
The new bill will not mean that community objections will outweigh planning merits, but instead the objections will be given more consideration then previously.
Currently VCAT is not able to take into account the extent of community opposition to a planned development.
During the election, then Shadow Planning Minister Brian Tee and Labor Member for Monbulk James Merlino met with locals at Tecoma to announce the plans.
Garry Muratore of the No McDonald’s in the Dandenong Ranges campaign was glad to see the government follow through on this election promise.
“Basically, it legitimises all the work we’ve done,” he said. “We’re right on this. While it’s too late for Tecoma, we didn’t want to see it happen to other communities, so we lobbied to make sure this kind of planning disaster didn’t happen to other communities in Victoria.”
“They’ve given communities back their voice,” he said.
My Muratore said if these changes were in place during the Tecoma McDonald’s appeal, it would have definitely changed the outcome.
“VCAT commissioners would have had to take on board the massive public opinion involved in this protest. 92 per cent of people in Tecoma were against it. They would have had to have rules for us,” he said.
In a written statement, current Minister for Planning Richard Wynne said the changes to VCAT processes would achieve better outcomes for communities.
“Planning decisions will always be better when the voice of the community is heard. It improves the decision-making process and leads to better outcomes,” he said.
