PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT
With demonstrated and revered experience working alongside local government, state government, planning authorities and statutory bodies, the planning and environment team intimately understands their decision-making processes and objectives, resulting in pragmatic advice to these authorities or developers seeking approval.
It is this devoted focus that sees the team advising on a broad range of commercial, residential and infrastructure projects across an array of industry sectors including retail, residential development, commercial, agricultural, industrial, aged care, wind, and mineral resources.
Additionally, the team regularly represents clients in matters before the Planning and Environment List of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) and Ministerially Appointed Planning Panels and Advisory Committees.
Let the team guide you through:
Planning Scheme Amendments, including rezoning.
Planning permit applications and other planning approvals.
Planning Panel and VCAT appeal advocacy and dispute resolution.
Development contributions and development agreements under section 173 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987.
Site acquisition and environmental due diligence.
Management of environmental approvals, contamination, pollution abatement notices and clean up notices under the Environment Protection Act 1970.
Heritage matters.
Aboriginal cultural heritage management plans.
Planning and other regulatory compliance, enforcement, prosecution and defence.
Environmental Effects Statements.
Commonwealth environmental approvals advice.
Compulsory acquisition, valuation and compensation.
Water law.
Environmental sustainability.
Regulation of gaming machines and licensing.
Harwood Andrews has been recognised as First Tier in the 2025 listing of leading Victorian Town Planning & Development Law Firms. This recognition details firms practising within the areas of town planning, development approvals & appeals as well as local government matters in the Victorian legal market who have been identified by clients and peers for their expertise and abilities in these areas.
Harwood Andrews was recognised as recommended Leading Environment & Climate Change Law Firm - Victoria, 2025. This listing recognises firms practising within the areas of environment, natural heritage, sustainability and climate change matters in the Victorian legal market who have been identified by clients and peers for their expertise and abilities in these areas.
Harwood Andrews have a depth of knowledge in the areas of planning & environment and play an important role in greenfields development in Victoria and shaping the communities in which we live.
173 AGREEMENTS - AN OVERVIEW FOR LAND OWNERS
The Planning and Environment team draft and review Section 173 Agreements on behalf of Councils, authorities, land owners and permit holders.
If you own land or are interested in purchasing a property which is affected by or will require you to enter into a Section 173 Agreement, the below video provides a short overview of the purpose and operation of Section 173 Agreements.
We have created an easy and quick way for you to submit your enquiry at your convenience. Once submitted we will review this information and provide you with a quote via email. In many cases we can provide a fixed price for preparing your agreement. This information will also be used when we prepare the agreement, so please complete as much information as you can.
Please note that whilst we aim to finalise your section 173 agreement as soon as practicable, the timeframe will depend on the particular circumstances of your matter including whether there is a mortgagee or whether we need to obtain further documents or instructions from Council relating to your agreement. It is not uncommon for some section 173 agreements to take 2-3 months to finalise from the date of our engagement. Please consider timeframes when arranging builders, purchasers, auctions, lodging of your plan of subdivision, settlement dates etc. and contact us if you have any queries.
