CEO update: 3 February 2017

Dear colleague,

I hope this email finds you well and that you had a restful holiday season.

The VPA has been busy in what will be an eventful year for us, with new legislation planned to come into effect mid-year. We will have several announcements to make over the coming weeks but for now our news is:

 Boosting our planning system for growth 

Yesterday the Treasurer, Tim Pallas, announced that the Victorian Government was investing $16 million into the VPA’s Streamlining for Growth program. See more on the announcement here.

The program was developed and administered by the VPA for the 2016/17 financial year, and has been extended for a further three years.

This was a great vote of confidence in the VPA’s program and we are very pleased with the support from the Treasurer and our Minister (the Hon Richard Wynne) to be able to continue working with our local government colleagues to open up new sites for housing and infrastructure.

The program consists of grants and assistance to councils for projects that will speed up subdivision approvals and land rezoning and supply in growth areas, urban renewal areas in Melbourne and a range of regional cities and towns.

We have received over 70 applications and so far we have approved 35 individual projects to date. The program will be now rolled out for a further three years.

Councils will use the funding to hire additional staff, progress land rezoning and identify more efficient methods to process submissions for activities like engineering works.

We will provide more information on all these grants shortly.

Furthermore, a ‘brownfield register’ will be created as part of this program to ensure that information about sites no longer used for their original purpose can be easily accessed by councils, developers and government agencies. This will help ensure the areas identified undergo renewal.

You can read more about the program here.

VPA LinkedIn account 

The VPA now has a company LinkedIn account. Here we will post job adverts and link to VPA news articles, feature stories, consultation activities and media releases.

The CEO updates will continue to be posted on my personal LinkedIn account. If you wish to follow us on LinkedIn you can do so here.

Teaching the planners of tomorrow

Throughout 2015 and 2016 the VPA partnered with Melbourne University to teach the planners of tomorrow.

As a government agency, we believe we have an important role to play in educating the community about best practice planning principles, and demonstrating how these are applied in the workforce.

Through our partnership with the university the VPA has gained many benefits, including having new talent work for us after completing internships.

Click here to read an article detailing our partnership with the university.

Job advertisements

Senior strategic planner

The VPA seeks a talented professional who will manage the preparation of greenfield precinct structure plans and other associated strategic plans as the blueprints for the development of new communities, employment areas and activity centres.

You will liaise with a range of stakeholders to achieve agreed outcomes around specific planning issues as well as the preparation of sound planning advice, analysis and assessment of planning proposals.

Fixed-term position (two years)

Salary: $90,890 – $109,969 – depending on skills and experience (Grade 5)

Plus Annual Leave Loading & Superannuation

For further information or a confidential discussion about the role, please call Hayley Atack on (03) 9651 9600.

Applications close for this position at 10am on Friday 10 Feb 2017.

Senior community engagement advisor

The Senior Community Engagement Advisor is responsible for the implementation and evaluation of the VPA’s community engagement approach, which includes detailed community engagement plans and activities that can be both events and digitally based.

You will be responsible for consulting with the community, external project stakeholders, as well as planners within the VPA team, to achieve agreed community engagement objectives to assist in addressing specific planning goals.

Fixed term position (2 Years)

Salary: $90,890 – $109,969 – depending on skills and experience (Grade 5)

Plus Annual Leave Loading & Superannuation

For further information or a confidential discussion about the role, please call Hayley Atack on (03) 9651 9600.

Applications close for this position at 10am on Wednesday 8 Feb 2017.

Building approvals

On 2 February, the ABS released the December 2016 building approvals. The year ended with a fall in detached house approvals (2,446 approvals in December versus 3,253 in November) but other dwellings bounced (3,714 approvals in December versus 2,583 in November). This was the fourth highest monthly figure of approvals for non-house dwellings recorded.

On an annual basis, there was approval of 36,412 houses and 31,748 other dwellings approved across the state in the calendar year of 2016. Houses are still trending up and other dwellings are trending downwards but slower than previously. We will keep an eye on these developments in coming months.

Finally

Please call our office or me if you have any questions or suggestions on these or any other items, or reply accordingly if you no longer wish to receive these emails.