Town Planning Services

At Terrain Consulting Group, our town planning consultants have proven experience handling a wide variety of residential, commercial, and industrial land use and development projects.

 

Our planning and development consultants collaborate closely with a number of specialised consultants, including traffic engineers, landscape architects, heritage consultants, arborists, and ecologists, to help achieve the project outcomes you desire.

What Is Town Planning?

Whether you are developing units, an apartment block, rezoning land, or changing the use of land, you will need to consider a wide range of factors.

Town planning revolves around understanding the context of the land, what is permissible and how your development or proposed land use will affect the surrounding area.

This means liaising with other relevant consultants to ensure that your application responds to all relevant considerations, as well as assessing complex State and Local policies and strategic frameworks – all to ensure your town planning application is a success.

Our Expertise

Terrain Consulting Group specialises in working collaboratively with clients, other consultants and professionals to ensure that all stakeholders work in a cohesive ad complimentary manner.

Your architect will design your building, your arborist will assess the impact of your development on the existing natural environment and your traffic engineer will be familiar with the traffic around your project.

However, it takes expert town planning and development consultants such as those at Terrain Consulting Group to bring everyone’s expertise together and align the pieces to form a great final product.

What We Can Help With

Planning Consultantation

Every successful development comes down to solid planning and strong working partnerships. At Terrain Consulting Group, we strive to provide high-quality town planning services in Melbourne and Victoria. With a full suite of town planning services, we can help developers, architects, builders and first-time investors realise their land’s potential.

Our proven experience dealing with a wide range of residential, commercial and industrial land use and development projects as well as our expert land surveying services at Terrain Consulting Group makes us the ideal planning and development consultants for your next project.

Planning Applications

With over 25 years of experience as town planning consultants, Terrain Consulting Group has extensively dealt with various City Councils in greater Melbourne and regional Victoria.

Our solid reputation as professional planning and development consultants within our industry has helped to foster positive relationships with Council officers. As such, we have built an understanding of the intricacies of different Councils and how their town planning application processes work.

Furthermore, our planning consultants have professional experience in both local government and private practice positions, which helps ensure the timely processing of town planning applications.

We understand the importance of project timelines and have demonstrated our ability to collaborate closely with the client, designer and Council officers to facilitate a successful outcome.

Planning Reports

Terrain Consulting Group’s planning reports are tailored to your application and present complex information in a concise, thorough report. Our planning and land development consultants work cohesively with the expert advice of industry specialists such as architects, arborists and traffic engineers, to ensure you have a comprehensive town planning application.

We have extensive experience preparing detailed planning reports that assess the proposal against the relevant policies, strategies and provisions of the planning scheme, ensuring that your town planning application has the best chance of success.

Our digital town planning reports provide a comprehensive assessment of your application against the provisions of the relevant planning scheme within an illustrative format that includes the integration of plans, photographs, graphics and maps.

 

Representation at Council Meetings

A planning application often needs to be considered in a public forum.  This could comprise of a meeting with Council officers and/or residents as well as a formal Council meeting.

We are experienced in professional representation at such forums where we focus on the key issues to facilitate positive resolutions.

Our land development consultants have worked hard to earn a reputable reputation as strong, but reasonable negotiators, capable of navigating Council regulations, while still keeping the client’s goals in mind.

Representation at VCAT

The planning application process includes the opportunity to have a Council decision reviewed by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).

At times, we have clients come to us with a planning application which has been refused by the Council and need help navigating the VCAT system.

Terrain Consulting Group’s planning consultants will provide you with a transparent and honest assessment of why your application may have failed at the Council stage and how the situation can be turned around at VCAT.

Alternatively, applications may have been approved by Council but is facing the prospect of VCAT because of objections from residents or other concerned parties.

A Merits Hearing at VCAT includes a review of the relevant town planning controls and policy documents that affect the site.

As part of the preparation for a Merits Hearing, our role includes an inspection of the property, liaison with the designer and the client, preparation of the appeal submission, and presentation and advocacy at VCAT.

Frequently, VCAT will attempt to resolve the matter via a Mediation Hearing where the aim is to achieve a negotiated consent between parties prior to and without the need to proceed to a Merits Hearing.

Our land planning consultants have a proud track record of VCAT legal representation for our clients at such meetings with fantastic results.

Planning Scheme Amendments

An application to amend a planning scheme (for e.g. change of zone, overlay or planning provision) requires the support of both local and state government. A proposed planning scheme amendment, therefore, requires a detailed submission that justifies the request with regard to State and local policies.

To satisfy this requirement, Terrain Consulting Group prepares a detailed submission supplemented by an explanatory report and list of changes to the municipal planning scheme that is presented in a professional manner with coloured photographs and relevant strategic diagrams.

Throughout the amendment, our planning and development consultants work closely with Local and State Government representatives, facilitating a smooth process.

As part of this process, the amendment will be advertised to the general public. Our role here is to monitor the public exhibition, liaise with Council officers, summarise and review any submissions as a result of the public notification process, and respond accordingly to Council officers.

 

If any submissions are received to the amendment, it is required that the matter is heard by an independent Ministerial appointed Panel. This Panel will hear submissions from the objector(s), Council and the applicant.

Our role in the Panel process is to be the advocates, on behalf of the client, and where necessary the briefing and cross examination of expert witnesses.

Where necessary, our role in this process may also include the briefing of lawyers and consultants, and attend the hearing in a support role or, if deemed appropriate by the planning lawyer, provide planning evidence at the panel hearing.

Ultimately, the Panel will report back to the Planning Minister with a copy of their recommendations which will be provided to Council.

Please contact our office for more information or to obtain a project-specific estimation of fees for any of the above services.

Why Use Terrain Consulting Group’s Town Planning Service?

  • Terrain Consulting Group has built a terrific reputation as a town planning firm.
  • We understand the process from start to finish ensuring we can provide all our clients a professional and holistic suite of services.
  • Our ability to foster close working relationships with a number of specialised consultants, such as architects, designers, traffic engineers, landscapers, heritage consultants, arborists and ecologists ensures your team of specialists works smoothly to achieve the best result possible.
  • With over 35 years of experience at our fingertips, we bring a vast amount of knowledge about Melbourne’s various city councils and their respective requirements and decision makers. This enhances our ability to deliver outcomes, no matter where your project is based.

Contact Us For Further Information On Our Urban Planning Services Today

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Terrain Consulting Group

418 High St, Kew VIC 3101, Australia | 03 9853 3352 | admin@terrainconsulting.com.au

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