Feature Image: Buildings and trees frame a distant city view. Credit: Johan Mouchet. Source: unsplash.

The National Trust of Australia (Victoria) has issued a detailed Position and Recommendations Statement on the Planning Amendment (Better Decisions Made Faster) Bill 2025, which represents the most comprehensive revision of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 since its inception.

While we find the proposed revisions to the Planning and Environment Act 1987 (the Act) represent a broadly positive update to the state’s planning framework, the absence of clarity around heritage means there is no guarantee these reforms will support good heritage outcomes.

SUMMARY RESPONSE

We demand clarity on how these changes will affect local heritage protections.

The National Trust has consistently outlined that we support planning reforms to enable densification in heritage areas — but not at the cost of heritage protection, community trust, or professional oversight. Streamlining processes should reduce unnecessary burden, not reduce safeguards.

Although the State Government has repeatedly stated that Heritage Overlays will remain unchanged throughout the rollout of its recent planning reforms, simply encouraging creative responses to density and heritage does not guarantee positive design outcomes. Without clear incentives or guidelines, heritage will continue to be perceived as a barrier rather than an opportunity for high-quality re-development.

The State Government must invest in heritage expertise beyond regulatory activities and clearly articulate good design outcomes that support adaptive reuse and heritage values.

The National Trust urges the State Government to establish a dedicated local heritage-planning unit within the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP), staffed with specialist expertise to provide both strategic and statutory advice on planning reforms affecting local heritage places, and to deliver practical support to local councils, relevant DTP teams, and other State Government agencies.

This will enable the State Government to more clearly define what constitutes good design in the context of local heritage places, provide guidance that supports adaptive reuse and reinvestment in existing buildings, and establish pathways and incentives that activate and sustain heritage places. Given the significant cultural and community importance of heritage places, they deserve design responses that meet the highest standards of excellence. Therefore, clear direction on how Heritage Overlays interact with broader planning reforms is essential to ensuring that heritage is integrated into, and contributes meaningfully to, density targets and the creation of great places to live.

OUR POSITION

• The National Trust supports the expanded wording of former objective (d), now objective (h), which more comprehensively recognises heritage significance and acknowledges social significance as a criterion at the local level. We further recommends strengthening the provision by explicitly recognising cultural landscapes and significant trees within the objective.
• The National Trust supports the addition of the proposed objective (c), which establishes recognition of Traditional Owner rights to country.
• The National Trust supports the proposed strengthened enforcement measures for the planning industry, including for increased fines, penalties, and court orders to prevent repeat offenders in the industry.
• The National Trust conditionally supports the introduction of three pathways for planning scheme amendments based on complexity (low, medium and high).
• The National Trust does not support the proposed expansion of ministerial powers or the reduction of Local Government decision-making authority. We believe the State Government’s role should prioritise supporting local planners through capacity-building and resources, rather than centralising decision-making.
• The National Trust is neither fully opposed to removing third-party appeal rights for low- to mid-complexity planning applications, nor fully supportive. The lack of detail on key implementation measures—particularly how streams will be defined and whether heritage considerations will trigger retained appeal rights—prevents blanket support.

Discussion: The National Trust recognises that under the proposed three-stream assessment framework, it may not always be necessary for planning permit applications in Heritage Overlays to retain third-party appeal rights. However, the Bill does not specify how planning permit applications will be assigned to the three categories when a Heritage Overlay applies. Nor is it clear how Heritage Overlay triggers will be treated within the Planning Scheme Amendment pathways.

Third-party appeal rights have long supported heritage protection by enabling community scrutiny and drawing on local expertise—both essential for well-informed council decision-making. This is particularly important for applications involving demolition or other high-impact changes within Heritage Overlays. How Heritage Overlays trigger the “high complexity” category will be critical to ensure the ability of the National Trust and the broader community to contribute to sound local heritage outcomes when necessary (see recommendation 4).

Until the Government clarifies how heritage-related applications will be categorised, the full implications of the proposed changes cannot be assessed. What is clear is that for matters affecting the cultural heritage values of a place—including buildings, cultural landscapes, and significant trees—community participation and third-party appeal rights have always been fundamental to protecting heritage and ensuring decisions deliver public benefit.

OUR RECOMMENDATIONS

The National Trust makes the following recommendations for next steps to support the effective implementation of these changes to the state’s planning framework:

1. That the State Government establish a dedicated local heritage planning unit within the Department of Transport and Planning, staffed with appropriate expertise to provide strategic and statutory guidance within the department, to ensure that heritage considerations are properly prioritised and integrated into the planning system with visibility and clarity to all those responsible for their implementation.
2. That the State Government provide capacity-building resources for local government and provide leadership and guidance on local heritage matters to support the delivery of local heritage planning responsibilities.
3. That the State Government develop regulations to ensure expanded ministerial powers are exercised only with appropriate consultation with local councils and due transparency of decision-making.
4. That the Department of Transport and Planning conduct meaningful and comprehensive consultation with heritage stakeholders, including the National Trust, Heritage Council of Victoria, Heritage Victoria, and local council heritage advisers and planners during the development of all implementation regulations and guidelines concerning the Heritage Overlay. This consultation must occur before decisions are made regarding how planning applications will be categorised under the three complexity streams when a Heritage Overlay applies.
5. That the Department of Transport and Planning consult on, develop, and publish clear guidance on how Heritage Overlays integrate with new planning processes, including how they will affect complexity within the three planning permit assessment streams and Planning Scheme Amendment pathways.
6. That the State Government ensures local governments receive the necessary resources to actively participate in consultation on the development of regulatory machinery to implement the new state planning framework, such as allowing appropriate timeframes for feedback as well as access to clear and transparent information on the planned implementation of these new laws.