In the trenches: Examining housing supply and development assessment in Melbourne

Delivering new residential housing within established metropolitan areas takes place within a context of competing pressures, with planning and housing policy objectives often at odds with both developer and resident expectations. These competing perspectives typically emerge within the development assessment process, where planning officers and elected officials determine development proposals. This paper examines the participation of elected Councillors in the determination of development applications in Melbourne, exploring tensions between merits based assessments conducted by planning officers and the politically informed decision making of elected representatives. Using publicly available Council meeting minutes, we analysed metropolitan Melbourne residential permit applications for 2011 that were determined directly by Councillors rather than being determined under delegation by Council planning officers. We investigated the characteristics of applications where Councils withdrew delegated authority from Council planning officers; the degree to which Councillors adopted planning officer recommendations; and the factors influencing decision making, including spatial location, dwelling density and public objection levels. It was found that in Melbourne, Councillor decisions that override planning officer recommendations are almost always to reject development; and that such decisions are associated with the level of resident objection. The research data and findings strengthen the evidence base for understanding the role that elected representatives play in development determinations.