Land Use Application Melbourne

The town planner at Barker Monahan has extensive experience in helping clients prepare and submit land use applications for their properties.

Land use applications are a fantastic way to get more out of your property.

Land use planning quite often does not necessarily mean land development, but rather converting the use of a property from one use to something else.

Some examples might include:

• Converting an existing dwelling to a medical centre
• Converting an existing shop to a cafe/restaurant
• Changing the intensity of a land use

These are three examples of changes which would require a land-use application.

Whilst the examples listed above are relatively common and straightforward, there is a range of times where a land-use application may need to be sought before a property can be changed or operate for a certain function.

What is a land-use application?

A land-use application is required whenever a property owner wants to change how a property is used.

There are two main types of land-use applications.

Change of Land Use Application

This is the sort of application you would use if you are completely changing the use of land or property.
Going with the examples given above, this might include:

• Converting an existing dwelling to a medical centre
• Converting an existing shop to a cafe/restaurant
• Converting a commercial factory to an industrial factory
• Converting a poultry farm to a broiler farm

A land-use application deals with changing one land use to another. Both the current and proposed land use are allowed within the land use zone in which the property is located.

This is different from rezoning land. Rezoning land refers to a drastic land use change which requires the approval of the Planning Minister. An example of rezoning is changing a farming zone into a residential zone.

When making a land-use application, there are a number of things to consider such as:

• How is the property currently used
• What is the end goal?
• Are there permits or licenses required as part of that change of land use (EG: liquor licensing)
• How will the new land-use impact surrounding properties and areas?

A good land use consultant will assess the potential impacts of the change in land use and make the appropriate adjustments to the application itself to have the best chance of being successful at Council.

As part of our process in assisting our clients, we use the land-use application process as a chance to assess the viability of the proposed change and advise our clients accordingly.

For example, if someone wants to convert a commercial factory into an industrial factory, but there is a poultry farm within a 400-metre radius, then it will be hard to have such a land-use change accepted as there are certain buffer distance required between the uses. 

Barker Monahan's town planners in Melbourne have extensive experience in this field and can help property owners looking to apply for a change of land use on a property they own from the straightforward cases right through to the more complex ones.

Change of intensity of a land use

Even if you are not planning to change the use of the land you own, but are looking to increase the intensity of its use, you may need to consider a land-use application.

For example, if a medical centre requires to increase the number of practitioners working from its centre, the centre would need to provide more parking to cater for the greater number of patients and staff the centre would be seeing.

This change would require a land-use application.

Trusting Barker Monahan with your land-use application

The town planners at Barker Monahan have a proud reputation as reliable consultants for all things town planning to many of Melbourne’s local councils.

In fact, our staff have great experience working within local councils.

Why is this important?

Because we understand local government. We understand the different councils, their varying rules and regulations. What they want to see in the planning applications that come across their desk and what they don’t want to see.

Expert advice you can trust

This expert advice will ensure Barker Monahan can help you:

• Analyse your land-use plans for your property and provide pertinent advice on how your plans can be enhanced
• Provide you honest and realistic feedback on your plans before you start the application process
• Prepare and submit a planning application
• Prepare for potential objections and answer them if they present themselves
• Represent you at VCAT, if required
• Provide expert evidence at VCAT, if required

We understand the process from start to finish ensuring Barker Monahan can provide developers of all shapes and sizes a professional and holistic suite of services.

Specialist relationships to ensure your project goes to plan

Our ability to foster close working relationships with a number of specialized consultants, such as traffic engineers, architects, landscapers, heritage consultants, arborists and ecologists ensures your team of specialists works smoothly to achieve the best result possible.

Barker Monahan's town planning services bring absolute clarity to the matters at hand and combine expert advice from a wide range of specialists with the facts of the land and its surrounds to ensure a detailed planning process and application you can trust, from planning applications to representation at council meetings.

Barker Monahan’s expert town planning services can be engaged at any point of the planning process.

Whether you are looking for some advice on what is viable before you purchase a property, or stuck in the middle of the planning process and can’t seem to navigate the objections of council and/or the local community, Barker Monahan can be relied upon for great advice and even better solutions.