VPRS 3184 Applications For Permits

Full description

Background

The series has its origins in the Town and Country Planning Act 1944 and subsequent legislation. The Act introduced statutory planning to Victoria, enabling municipal councils to plan and control development through the establishment of planning schemes, subject to the approval of the responsible minister- initially the minister for Public Works. A Town and Country Planning Board was established to administer the Act, and report upon and provide advice to the minister in regard to the schemes. Control of planning in the period between the commencement of the preparation of a planning scheme and its completion, was provided under the Act through the issuing of an interim development order by the authority responsible for preparing the scheme (the Responsible Authority). Once in place, any land development, building or road construction, was subject to the approval of the Responsible Authority.

VPRS 3184 Applications for Permits

In certain cases the minister could direct the Board itself to undertake the preparation of a planning scheme. This could happen, for instance, in the case of areas considered to be of national or state significance, or when a council failed to submit a scheme within 12 months of being directed to by the minister. VPRS 3184 Applications for Permits consists of applications for permits and copies of permits issued in instances where the Town and Country Planning Board was preparing a planning scheme and had issued an interim development order, in other words, where the Board was a Responsible Authority. In such cases, the function of considering applications made under the interim development order, and deciding to issue or not issue a permit, was the responsibility of the Board.

Applications for permits made under interim development orders were considered in relation to the requirements of, or their compatibility with, the planning scheme envisaged for the area in which the works proposed in the application were to be carried out. Hence, the permits are distinct from those typically issued by local government (building permits, for example). The permit issued by the Town and Country Planning Board did not remove the need for the permit holder to comply with the requirements of any other authority pursuant to any statute of regulation (this was actually included as a condition of the permit). Presumably, if someone intended to build a house, for example, in an area subject to an interim development order, they would require both a permit from the Responsible Authority in relation to the order, and a building permit from the local council.

The local municipal authority for the area to be covered by the scheme is thought to have been used by the Board as an intermediary, receiving applications in the first instance and referring them to the Board for decision. Communication in many instances was through the Shire Engineer.

VPRS 3184: Contents

Specific contents of VPRS 3184 Applications for Permits include:

* Applications for permits to undertake works;
* Sketch plans of work to be carried out;
* Copies of the permit issued under the interim development order, including details of any conditions or qualifications under which the permit was issued ;
* Copies of refusals to grant a permit;
* Reports from people such as the Boards Planning Officer, written in regard to applications;
* Correspondence associated with the application/permit process.

Applications under Section 25 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1961

The series also include a number of applications and permits issued under Section 25 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1961. This section dealt with situations where local councils and public authorities affected by an interim development order wished to carry out any works or undertakings which would not be in conformity with the planning scheme envisaged for the area. The section required the council or public authority to notify the Responsible Authority (in this case the Town and Country Planning Board) of its intentions and consult with the authority with the aim of co-ordinating the proposal with the scheme.