stephen

10 posts

ResCode: Using it Well

As most Victorian practitioners will be aware, traditional ResCode has been heavily reworked and the old cl 55 turned into a heavily deemed-to-comply “townhouse and low-rise code.” Our ResCode course described below will obviously be reworked in coming weeks to reflect these changes. We are well placed to help your staff with this adjustment, with Stephen having been on the Technical Reference Group for the new code. We are eager to explore with local government leaders what their key training needs are going to be as the new code rolls out, so don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Cityscape image taken in Docklands Melbourne, of a near-empty Bourke Street.

Better Decisions for Better Outcomes

This short course is designed to encourage staff to reflect on the particular challenges of making good decisions in the Victorian system. In a system where sometimes it feels any decision is arguable, how do we make rigorous, accountable, logical and ethical decisions?

This session explores ways to think about the decision-making process, common pitfalls, and strategies to improve decision-making.

Drafting Planning Permits and Refusals

Planning permits are legally binding documents. This means that preparing them is a from of statutory drafting. This is an important foundational skill for any statutory planner.

This session covers the basics of drafting planning permits that are easy to understand and legally robust. It also covers the less frequently discussed topic of how to prepare a good refusal.

VCAT: Tips for Council Planners

This session presents lessons from Stephen’s 25 years as a frequent, but somewhat reluctant, participant at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.  It covers tips for presenting, the challenges of presenting planning as a planner in a pseudo-legal setting, and the particular challenges of presenting cases for local government.

Victorian Planning: Why Doesn’t it Work?

The Victorian VPP-based planning system appears to be built on well-designed foundations, based on seemingly sound principles of strategically-driven performance-based planning. Yet after more than two decades it struggles to achieve efficient decision-making and effective policy implementation.

In this reflective session Stephen explores why multiple rounds of system review have made such limited progress. In response, he suggests alternative approaches to structuring and writing planning controls that can help the Victorian system deliver on its potential.

Stephen presenting at the Victorian Planning and Environmental Law Association conference in 2023.

Integrity in Planning – Lessons from Sandon

This is a reflective short session based on and expanding Stephen’s presentation at the 2023 VPELA conference.

It discusses the issue of integrity in planning, in light of the findings of IBAC’s Operation Sandon enquiry. It looks at the implications for decision-makers and policy-makers and examines the particular challenges of maintaining integrity within the Victorian system.

Bespoke Training

We love to develop new bespoke training sessions to meet the needs of individual clients.

Feel free to get in touch with either of us to enquire about developing a course to meet your needs. This could be either a completely new session, or something derived from an existing offering.