Planning Law

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2011:

Principal topics will include:

• The conceptual framework for planning law and regulation and its historical development, including an examination of why and when governments choose to regulate, rather than rely on the operation of the open market, in controlling patterns of land use and development
• Economic and political theories that attempt to explain why and how planning law governs the control of land in cities and suburbs, for whose benefit, and at whose cost
• Evaluation of the various components of the Victorian planning regime, focusing on the operation of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 (Vic) and the Victoria Planning Provisions
• The role of key actors under the Victorian planning regime (such as the Victorian Minister for Planning and municipal councils) and the key processes established under the regime
• The review of decisions made under the regime (both in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and the Supreme Court of Victoria) and the powers available to relevant planning authorities under the Planning and Environment Act 1987
• Particular problems that plague the Victorian planning system such as the fair and equitable distribution of undesirable land uses, the limitation of urban sprawl within metropolitan Melbourne, the appropriate level of public participation in decision making processes and the need to deliver sound planning outcomes in a timely and efficient manner.

A student who has successfully completed this subject should:

• Understand the operation of the key components of the Victorian planning regime
• Appreciate the role played by different actors within the Victorian planning regime (such as the Minister for Planning, local governments, developers and objectors)
• Be familiar with the nature, scope and operation of the various avenues for review of decisions made under the Victorian planning regime
• Understand how the Victorian planning regime interacts with other statutory processes, including those contained within the Environment Protection Act 1970 (Vic), the Environmental Effects Act 1978 (Vic), the Subdivision Act 1988 (Vic) and the Liquor Control Reform Act 1998 (Vic)
• Appreciate different historical and theoretical underpinnings of planning law.

Visit the Melbourne Law Masters website for more information about this subject.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.