Planning and deregulation: the failure of the new Victorian planning system

In 1996, the Victorian Liberal Kennett Government embarked on an ambitious experiment on the State's land use planning system by introducing the Victoria Planning Provisions (VPP). Since then, seven official reports have been made on aspects of this system. All have referred to operational inadequacies but none has proposed major changes. The Whitney Committee (2002), for example, argued that the system was inefficient and uncertain but concluded that the system was experiencing "teething problems" and was not in crisis. Better Decisions Faster (DSE 2003) recommended 18 measures to reduce the volume of permits and processing delays, and increase consistency in decision making. But despite promises by both the former Victorian Liberal (Maclellan 1996) and the current Labor (Thwaites 1999) governments, the system is not properly monitored and no comprehensive review of its performance by a state government has been carried out.