The Disgraceful Brumby Government

Hundreds of apartment complexes are to be built across Victoria without any community consultation or rights of appeal for neighbours as the Brumby Government tries to fast-track billions of dollars in federally funded projects.

Laws to take effect tomorrow will in effect bypass the planning process, with $3 billion worth of social housing and school projects to have "no public notification or review".

The changes mean that for some Victorians, the first they could learn about a new school or social housing project in their street could be the arrival of builders on the site.

Critics also fear the laws could be subject to abuse, enabling commercial developers to bypass planning by including token amounts of social housing in projects.

Under the changes, revealed by the Government yesterday, there will be no minimum number of social housing units required in a development for it to qualify for fast-track approval - it will only need some form of social housing.

And while local councils will be notified of fast-tracked projects in their areas, there will be no compulsion for councils to inform residents.

Planning Minister Justin Madden said it would "pave the way for the largest number of simultaneous education and housing projects to be undertaken in Victoria's history".

He said that while there would be no direct appeal rights, people "will have the opportunity to … raise matters with their local council (and) the local council will refer those issues to myself as the relevant authority.

"So if there is anything controversial, we will try to resolve these matters as quickly as possible so we can get the shovel-ready projects commencing."

Mr Madden said he did not intend to knock back bad projects. "What we would do if we were concerned about any of these projects is to resolve these matters by potentially either adjusting the design or adjusting the arrangement of the project," he said.

The Urban Development Institute welcomed the changes. Victorian chief executive Tony De Domenico said: "We think the Government has got an opportunity to fast-track a lot of projects that have been stymied by councils contrary to State Government policy. It's good to see - it's all about jobs."

But Municipal Association of Victoria president Bill McArthur said the Government was "completely disregarding good planning and design outcomes, neighbourhood character, local amenity and the wishes of surrounding communities".

University of Melbourne architecture and planning academic Kim Dovey also expressed concerns.

While it was important to stimulate the economy and to build public housing, he said, there would be "a lot of long-term consequences if we don't get it right.

"It is a concern in urban design terms to see that the social mix is right and whether the urban design issues are followed properly," he said.

One concern was that developers might be able to bypass planning regulations by including social housing in their projects. "That's sort of an outrage - we have been through so much of this in the '90s," he said.

Professor Dovey said it would be a negative outcome "if you allow developers to produce new developments that have got the public housing walled off in one corner, which has happened before".

Dan Ward, a spokesman for Housing Minister Richard Wynne, denied that developers could abuse the laws, saying "these changes will not apply to developments that are primarily for private benefit".

The Age