Information required to accompany a planning application

Prior to lodging a planning application, arrange an appointment with a town planner to have preliminary discussions regarding your proposal. This will assist you in the preparation of your planning application and provide an understanding of the planning process.

When lodging an application for a planning permit, you must ensure that the following information is submitted:

A correctly completed application form for planning permit.

Check that all sections of the form have been completed
Under "The Owner" complete either point A or B plus the declaration at the bottom of the form.

A full, current and legible copy of the title including all associated covenants to the property.

Showing all dimensions of the lot, the lot number and lodged plan number.

Three copies of plans of the proposal

Plans should be clearly dimensioned and to scale (preferably 1:100) and should include site layout and elevations of any buildings and landscaping.
Plans showing adjoining streets, driveways, street trees, trees on site, fences and the distance to adjoining buildings.
One set of plans reduced to fit on A3 sized paper.

Any other supporting information

Such as hours of operations, the number of employees, details of the nature of the proposal as well as any other information relevant to your proposal.

The appropriate planning permit application fee

NOTE: Applications submitted without the prescribed fee will not be considered until the fee is paid.

We understand your eagerness to obtain planning approval. However, some specific steps must be followed under the Planning and Environment Act and also under the protocols and practices that the City of Wodonga has adopted.

The statutory planning services unit at the City of Wodonga consider it important that you have a good understanding of the timelines that the planning process will take so that you are fully informed from an early time and have a realistic expectation of the potential time taken to process your application.

Your application will be considered in relation to the objectives of the City of Wodonga Planning Scheme and relevant council policies. The following is a brief summary of the planning process. Please note that this is only a guide and each application will be assessed and processed on its individual merits.

Once received, your application will be assigned to a specific officer who will notify you that the application has been received and provide you with a reference number and contact details should you require contact with the council regarding your proposal. If you have previously spoken to an officer regarding your application, please note this in your submission.

Further information may be required by the delegated officer to thoroughly assess your application in accordance with Section 54 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987.
In some cases, notification of your application must be given to owners and occupiers of adjoining and nearby land in accordance with the Planning and Environment Act 1987. This process takes no less than fourteen (14) days. The officer assessing your application will make a determination on the requirement for advertising and where necessary, will initiate advertising of the application. You will be notified of this requirement and will be required to erect and maintain a sign provided by the council at the front of the site for the prescribed period and pay to Council, any charge associated with the advertising of your application prior to a determination being made. Such costs will be invoiced to you.
The application may also need to be referred, either formally or informally to other Council Departments and to Government agencies such as VicRoads, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Goulburn Murray Water and North East Catchment Management Authority to name a few.
The Town Planner will undertake an inspection of the site / locality of the proposed works. If you would like to be present during the inspection to meet and discuss your proposal with the planning officer, please indicate this within your application.
Please note that you are required to submit a locality map / plan readily identifying your site by street name, number etc and preferably, your building site / envelope should be pegged or otherwise identified. If the property is in a rural location, please provide clear and concise details to assist in identifying the property.
The officer will prepare a detailed report outlining the reasoning for his /her recommendation.

Depending on the nature of the application and any objections received, the application may be required to be discussed at a mediation meeting and if not resolved, the officer will make a professional decision on your application. The decision could result in a Notice of Decision to Grant a Permit or a Notice of Refusal. Opportunities are available to appeal the council's decision through the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

The process to achieve these principles is notionally outlined below with an anticipated timeline to assist you in your considerations. These are intended to be realistic timeframes based on workloads of the office and the procedure that the office must follow based on legislation and council requirements. It is noted that the council has 60 days to decide a planning application under the Planning and Environment Act 1987 – this does not include any time waiting for additional information requested from the applicant or the advertising period. Te council will naturally try to process the application as efficiently as possible and has an in-house charter to achieve efficient turn around times.

In general terms, you MUST lodge sufficient information for the council officers to commit the proposal to advertising – applications with insufficient information will NOT be advertised but will be held back pending receipt of that information via a formal request.

Please take time to understand the process so that you will appreciate the time it will take time to process your planning application – it is very much a public process and can take considerable time.

A sound analysis of the site, pre-application discussions and consistency with council policy will all help speed up and simplify this process.

Further information:

For further information regarding planning processes and information required, please contact the council's statutory planning services unit on (02) 6022 9300, Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm or at the council offices in Hovell St, Wodonga.

Component of planning process	Time expected	Realistic cumulative time from lodgment	Important comment
Pre-application discussion
Lodgment to advertising	One week	One week	If insufficient info, the application will be stalled until information is provided
From start of advertising to end of advertising period (14 days minimum)	Two weeks	Three weeks	Some logistics apply here that may take a few days. Permission to copy
Assessment by officers of proposal and objections and ensuring consistency with council policy NB: The planners need to prioritise the assessments in order as they are ready to be assessed	One to two weeks	Five weeks	If the application does not comply with cuoncil policy it will cause further delays from here
Consultation process	Two weeks	Seven weeks	At least seven days' notice needs to be given to parties to be reasonable
Follow up after consultation	One to two weeks	Seven to nine weeks	Amended plans may need to be submitted / circulated to attend to desirable or obvious changes sought
Report writing and decision by delegate	One to three weeks	Nine to 12 weeks	The planners have many applications at any one time and appeals to attend to – unfortunately some delays may occur to final determination if deadlines exist for council meetings and appeals
Should an appeal be lodged	16 weeks	26 to 30 weeks	About 16 weeks to hearing date
Tribunal decision	Eight to 10 weeks	30 to 40 weeks	Eight to 10 weeks for a written decision

Likely decision times are:

Delegated decision: Six to 12 weeks
VCAT decision: 30 to 40 weeks

If all information is provided and no notice or referral of the application is required, council officers will endeavour to issue your permit within 10 working days.

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