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Spinning the wheel: examining decision making process and outcomes in development assessment
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 Spinning the wheel: examining decision making process and outcomes in development assessment
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Abstract: An increased emphasis on consolidated city policies has heightened development pressure on existing urban areas. This has occurred alongside increased resident resistance to development. The development assessment process, culminating in the issuing or refusal of planning permits, seeks to mediate this tension. A frequently voiced concern of developer and resident groups alike is the extent of disagreement between decisions makers involved in the assessment process – planning officers, elected representatives and appeal bodies – on the merits of a development proposal. This resulting uncertainty is perceived to hamper investment decisions, increase developer costs and unsettle local communities.
This paper examines in detail the determinations of decision makers in the development assessment process. The case study is based on an examination of the 2011 calendar year of planning permit applications determined across all 31 local government areas in Melbourne, Victoria. Drawing together planning permit data, Council meeting minutes and Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) decisions, we compare the determinations of planning officers, elected officials and the appeal tribunal. The data reveals that in a significant number of cases there is disagreement in decision maker determinations. While we find that the majority of applications were ultimately granted planning approval, there is little consistency between the determinations of each party, with a range of factors influencing decision making during each stage of the process.
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This paper was presented at SOAC 6, held in Sydney from 26-29 November 2013.
The State of Australian Cities (SOAC) national conferences have been held biennially since 2003 to support interdisciplinary policy-related urban research.
SOAC 6 was the largest conference to date, with over 180 papers published in collected proceedings. All papers presented at the SOAC 2013 have been subject to a double blind refereeing process and have been reviewed by at least two referees. In particular, the review process assessed each paper in terms of its policy relevance and the contribution to the conceptual or empirical understanding of Australian cities.
