The last time the community was permitted to provide input into a planning scheme review was in 2016. Thus ten years have passed, three previous reviews have come and gone and council still sees no need to allow residents to have their say on this important document which is up for decision at Tuesday’s council meeting.
The main argument council provides for the refusal to allow ‘consultation’ is (and we quote) –
Given the short time frame set by DTP, there was insufficient time to engage with the community.
However, once the Planning Scheme Review Report is endorsed by Council it will be published on Council’s website. (!!!!!!!!!!)
Council tells us that they received the order from the Minister in January 2026 that the review was to be completed by the end of October. That is a full 9 months! Ironically, when a public question was asked on the 2/5/2023 in regards to community consultation for the upcoming 2023 planning scheme review, the final paragraph of council’s answer was:
Council officers regularly brief Department of Transport and Planning representatives on the progress of our strategic planning work program and have committed to provide a review within 6 months to the Department. Once the internal review is nearing completion, Council will be in a better position to confirm the nature of any further consultation.
Needless to say, there was no community consultation then! However, council still thought that it could get things done in 6 months! Now they have 9, and we assume ongoing ‘discussions’ with the department and Minister have continued, but this isn’t enough to engage the community in 2026!
We certainly acknowledge that the last 18 months or so has seen a landslide of government changes to the planning scheme, all of which have, and will have, a dramatic impact on councils. But it’s not as if councils weren’t forewarned as to what was happening. Submissions were asked for and sent off, as well as continued ‘advocacy’.
Thankfully, not all councils operate as Glen Eira does. To various extents, they value their communities and do provide them with the opportunity to have a say!
The following group of councils are ALL providing community consultations for their 2026 Planning Scheme Reviews. Most are regional councils so may not be impacted as severely with the Activity Centre changes as our metropolitan neighbours. But they do have their own issues to deal with that have been impacted by legislative changes – ie huge population growth in many, environment, etc.
We should also point out that not all councils have released their reviews and the processes involved. Some have asked for extensions.
The focus of this post has been on the lack of engagement with the community. Our next post will evaluate the actual review and compare it with other councils.
Cardinia – https://www.cardinia.vic.gov.au/news/draft-planning-scheme-review-part-b-public-exhibition
Mornington Peninsula – https://shape.mornpen.vic.gov.au/mps-planning-scheme-review-2026
Moonee Valley – https://yoursay.mvcc.vic.gov.au/planning-scheme-review
Mansfield – https://www.mansfield.vic.gov.au/community/news/local-knowledge-sought-2026-planning-scheme-review
Macedon Ranges – https://yoursay.mrsc.vic.gov.au/Planning-Scheme-Review
Yarra Ranges – https://shaping.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/yarra-ranges-planning-scheme-review-2026
Mansfield – https://www.mansfield.vic.gov.au/community/news/local-knowledge-sought-2026-planning-scheme-review
Kingston – https://www.yourkingstonyoursay.com.au/planning-scheme-review
Greater Dandenong – https://yoursay.greaterdandenong.vic.gov.au/strategic-planning-work-program
South Gippsland – https://www.southgippsland.vic.gov.au/PlanningSchemeReview2026
Baw Baw – https://www.bawbawconnect.com.au/planning-scheme-amendment-c157bawb South Gippsland – https://www.facebook.com/southgippslandshirecouncil/posts/-were-reviewing-the-south-gippsland-planning-scheme-and-we-want-you-to-share-you/1475486824605666/
October 5, 2026 at 12:23 PM
Consultation is, and has been a joke in Glen Eira for as long as I can remember. It continues and the planning department is allowed to run riot regardless of who is supposedly in charge.
October 6, 2026 at 8:44 AM
It’s staggering that we see CEO after CEO come and go in Glen Eira, yet nothing changes. It is highly questionable why this is the case. One would think public consultation or at least public relations would be high on the CEO’s agenda.
There must be a secret document passed from the outgoing CEO to the newcomer, reinforcing the idea that sidelining residents is the easiest and best option. Our latest CEO seems hell-bent on changing nothing, while our lazy councillors simply make their puny lives easier, hitching their wagons to the path of least resistance.
I wonder if the councillors still pull the CEO into a twice-yearly review to check if she is meeting her KPIs, or if that practice has gone by the wayside as well?
October 6, 2026 at 12:05 PM
Perhaps what needs to happen is that KPIs for all CEOs and senior officers should be made public. One of these KPIs would include compulsory community involvement beyond what the local government act now says has to go out for consultation.
Maybe even publish their annual reviews? I know this won’t happen.
The other thing I’ve just realised is that once upon a time we had a community consultation committee that had residents on it. It’s now gone. Don’t think it achieved much but at least it was there.That to me says heaps about what is happening in this council and how things are going from bad to worse.
October 8, 2026 at 3:21 PM
There isn’t a single mention of corruption within the Planning Scheme Review [sic]. This is to be expected when it is members of the Development Industry reviewing the Development Industry, and the progress made towards the goals set by the Development Industry for itself. Meanwhile the debasement of the planning system in Victoria continues. Most decisions are made without transparency or accountability, especially when they’re political decisions made by the ethically-challenged Sonya Kilkenny on the days she remembers which of several hats she’s wearing. The Development Facilitation Program is especially worthy of criticism given how open to corruption it is. I’m using “corruption” in the ordinary meaning of the word, not the pathetic IBAC definition. At least we have a State election this year, and I look forward to ranking major parties very lowly. Fortunately there will be alternatives (eg Socialists) whose primary motivation is making Victoria liveable, not the enrichment of a privileged few.