EAGA has teamed up with the six other Victorian Greenhouse Alliances and the Council Alliance for a Sustainable Built Environment (CASBE) in leading a state-wide campaign to reform Victoria’s planning system.
The Planning for a Safe Climate campaign aims to embed climate change into all planning decisions by amending planning legislation and regulation. 65 of the state’s 79 councils are involved in this campaign, representing one of the largest, most coordinated advocacy campaigns led by the local government sector in recent times. Given the breadth and scale of coordination amongst local councils on this issue, we are hopeful of achieving constructive change.
The first stage of the campaign involved building the case for reform to state planning policy, legislation and regulation, outlined in the Hansen Report.
Final report – Climate Change and Planning in Victoria – November 2021 (PDF, 5,604KB)
Summary of findings – Climate Change and Planning in Victoria (PDF, 2,000KB)
In the lead up to the 2022 Victorian state election, CASBE and the Alliances have been engaging with candidates and Members of Parliament seeking commitments to the campaign’s key asks. Through this process, we secured over 20 meetings with MPs before releasing a Report Card assessing the position of each political party against our campaign asks. We also collaborated with crossbench MPs who raised our campaign in Parliament. The campaign has assisted in elevating planning reform on the state agenda ahead of the election.
The Minister for Planning and the Shadow Minister for Planning have now received letters from the Victorian Greenhouse Alliances and councils seeking their commitment to our campaign.
EAGA Letter to Planning Minister
Letter of response from the Minister
EAGA Letter to Shadow Planning Minister
Outcome
The campaign led to the March 2024 amendments Victoria’s Planning and Environment Act. These amendments “require consideration of climate change when making planning decisions about the use and development of land under the act and for other purposes, which includes greenhouse gas emissions, reductions targets and increased climate resilience” – a key ask of the campaign.
Update: October 2024
In September 2024, representatives of the VGAs met with the Minister for Planning, Sonia Kilkenny to discuss next steps and opportunities for collaboration in the ongoing work of reforming Victoria’s planning system for a safe climate and resilient communities. Following the meeting, five specific recommendations for action were summarised in a letter that was sent to the Minister in October.