Harwood Andrews has acted for the City of Greater Geelong in a successful prosecution of the owners of ‘the Ritz’ - a prominent heritage listed building located on Bellerine Street, Geelong.

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal  (VCAT) has last week considered the operation of Clause 61.01 which makes the Minister for Planning the responsible authority for certain planning applications within the City of Melbourne. 

In a unanimous decision, the Court of Appeal (Warren CJ, Santamaria JA and Garde AJA) upheld the decision of VCAT to grant a planning permit for the demolition and redevelopment of ‘Arden’, a significant heritage place under the Boroondara Planning Scheme (Boroondara City Council v 1045 Burke Road Pty Ltd [2015] VSCA 27). 

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has provided further commentary concerning the use of section 87A of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 to modify existing planning permits.

A recent decision of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has highlighted the risk of relying on online mapping tools to assess whether a site is within an area of ‘cultural heritage sensitivity’ within the meaning of the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006 and regulations.