Victorian planning resource · Objection Letter from $99

Objecting to a planning permit application in Victoria

A sign has gone up next door, or a notice has landed in your letterbox. Two things decide whether objecting achieves anything: whether your concern is something the planning scheme lets the council act on, and whether you will still hold a right of review when the decision comes. Here is how both work — including the common case where the scheme has already taken your VCAT rights away.

Victorian owners and occupiers who have been given notice of a planning permit application — or seen the sign on the land — and want to know whether they have a ground worth running, and how long they have to run it.

Turn your concerns into planning grounds — from $99

Who can object, and what an objection must actually say

Section 57(1) of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 gives the right to object to any person who may be affected by the grant of the permit. That is deliberately wide. You do not have to adjoin the site, you do not have to own the home you live in, and you do not need a planner to lodge. Owners, occupiers and tenants further down the street all qualify if they can explain the effect on them.

Section 57(2) then sets out what the objection must contain, and it has two limbs that are easy to miss. An objection must be made in writing stating the reasons for the objection — and stating how the objector would be affected by the grant of the permit. Most objections do the first and skip the second. The second limb is what makes a concern assessable: it connects a provision of the planning scheme to a consequence at a particular address, which is the form the responsible authority can act on.

There is one objection the council is entitled to throw out. Under section 57(2A) a responsible authority may reject an objection it considers has been made primarily to secure or maintain a direct or indirect commercial advantage for the objector, and section 57(2B) then applies the Act as if the objection had never been made. A business objecting to a competitor opening nearby is the obvious case, and it is a good reason to keep any commercial interest out of the stated grounds.

Overlooking — a habitable room window, balcony or terrace with direct views into your secluded private open space or living areas
Overshadowing — shadow across your north-facing habitable room windows or secluded private open space
Neighbourhood character — bulk, scale, height, siting or materials at odds with the character the zone, its schedule and any overlay are seeking
Setbacks, building height and site coverage, where the proposal does not meet the applicable Clause 54 or Clause 55 standard
Overlay objectives — heritage, significant landscape, design and development, vegetation protection, bushfire, flood
Vegetation and canopy loss, where an overlay or Clause 52.37 protects the trees
For a non-residential use: noise, hours of operation, lighting, odour, waste collection and traffic generation
Access and traffic safety — sight lines, crossover location, on-site manoeuvring

The grounds that no longer work — and why

Several of the most commonly raised objections cannot succeed, and knowing which is the difference between a submission the council has to grapple with and one it can dispose of in a sentence. Loss of property value is not a planning consideration and no permit can be refused on it. Neither is the identity of the applicant, how long you have lived there, or competition with your business. Construction noise and dust are real but short-term, and are managed under other legislation rather than by refusing a permit.

Two grounds that used to be productive have narrowed sharply. Car parking shortfalls were a reliable objection until Amendment VC277 replaced the old bedroom-based rates in Clause 52.06 with per-dwelling rates set by car parking requirement category — under which many townhouse schemes with a single garage each now simply comply. The mandatory garden area requirement in Clause 73.01 is the other: only dwellings, covered driveways and covered car parking are excluded from the calculation, so eaves, uncovered driveways, small outbuildings and domestic services all count towards it, and a genuine shortfall is far rarer than an objector's own measurement suggests.

The deeper change is inside Clause 55. Following Amendment VC267 — the Townhouse and Low-Rise Code, applying to applications lodged on or after 31 March 2025 — a codified standard that the proposal meets is deemed to comply, and the zone purpose, the Municipal Planning Strategy and Planning Policy Framework and Clause 65 do not supply a separate basis to refuse on that subject. An objection built on “this is not what the zone intends” gets no traction against a standard the proposal meets. The grounds that still bite are the standards the applicant's own planning report concedes are not met, and the permit triggers that sit outside the codes — overlays above all.

There is no closing date for an objection — which is not the reassurance it sounds like

This surprises most people, including some who have objected before. The Planning and Environment Act fixes no deadline for lodging an objection. Section 57(1) attaches the right to being affected, not to a date, and an objection can be made at any time until the responsible authority determines the application. The date printed on the notice is the council's administrative cut-off — the point by which it wants objections in hand so assessment can start — not a statutory bar.

That does not make lateness safe. The council must consider objections before it decides, so an objection arriving after the officer has written the delegate report may be considered in form and carry very little weight in substance, and one arriving after the decision is made cannot be considered at all. Lodge within the period the notice states. The point of knowing there is no statutory closing date is narrower and more useful than it first appears: if you have only just found out about an application, you have not necessarily lost your right to object, so lodge immediately instead of assuming you are out of time.

Ask to be notified of the decision. Under section 64(1) the responsible authority must give notice of a decision to grant a permit to the applicant and to each person who objected under section 57 — and it is that notice, not the decision itself, that starts the clock on the only hard deadline in the whole process.

The deadline that ends your rights: 28 days from the Notice of Decision

If the council decides to grant the permit over your objection, it issues a Notice of Decision to Grant a Permit. The permit itself has not been issued. Under section 64(3) it must not be issued until the period in which an objector may apply to the Tribunal has run out, or — if an application for review is made within that period — until the Tribunal determines it or it is withdrawn. That interval is the whole of your remaining leverage.

An objector's application to VCAT is made under section 82(1), and regulation 35 of the Planning and Environment Interim Regulations 2026 requires it to be made within 28 days after the date of the notice of that decision. If no application for review is made, the permit issues once those 28 days are up. The period runs from the date of the notice, not from the day it reaches you, so a notice sitting in a letterbox over a holiday eats into it.

Note the figure, because it moved. The revoked Planning and Environment Regulations 2015 set 21 days, and a great deal of guidance still in circulation repeats that number. Twenty-eight days is what the current regulation says, and what the prescribed form of the notice of decision says. If the notice you have been given states a shorter period, treat the shorter one as your deadline and raise the discrepancy with the council the same day rather than at the end of the period.

Section 64(1) — notice of the decision goes to the applicant and to every person who objected
Section 64(3) — the permit must not be issued while the objector review period runs
Section 82(1) — an objector may apply to VCAT for review of a decision to grant a permit
Regulation 35, Planning and Environment Interim Regulations 2026 — within 28 days after the date of the notice
Applicant deadlines are different and longer: 60 days to seek review of a refusal (s 77) or of a condition (s 80)
Diarise the date the notice arrives; treat the period as strict rather than relying on any extension

When you have no right of review at all

Not every objector ends up with a VCAT right, and this is the single most important thing to establish early. Section 82(2) lets a planning scheme set out classes of permit application whose decisions are exempt from objector review, and section 82(3) makes that exemption absolute: where the scheme exempts a decision, an application for review cannot be made under section 82(1) at all.

The exemption that catches the most Victorian objectors sits in the residential zones. Where every applicable standard under Clause 55.02, Clauses 55.04-1 to 55.04-4 and Clause 55.05-2 is met, the application is exempt from the notice-of-decision requirements in section 64(1) to (3) and from the section 82(1) review rights. The application is still advertised and your objection is still lodged and considered — but there will be no Notice of Decision and no appeal. The converse is what you can use: a single standard in that list which the applicant concedes is not met preserves your review rights, so it is worth identifying and saying so plainly in the objection itself.

VicSmart applications are a separate case entirely. They are decided within 10 business days, are exempt from public notice, and carry no third-party review right, so there is no objection stage to take part in. If a council tells you an application is being decided under the VicSmart pathway, that is the explanation for why you were never notified.

If you did not object, or the permit touches your covenant

Missing the objection stage is not always fatal. Section 82B lets any person who is affected apply to the Tribunal for leave to apply for review of a decision to grant a permit, in any case in which a written objection to the grant was received by the responsible authority. Leave is required — the Tribunal decides whether to let you in, and must give the permit applicant, the responsible authority and you an opportunity to be heard first unless the permit applicant consents to the request. But the door is not closed simply because your own name is not on an objection.

If the permit would allow a registered restrictive covenant to be removed or varied, or if anything the permit authorises would breach one, you are in a stronger position again. Section 57(1A) deems an owner or occupier of any land benefited by the covenant to be a person affected by the grant of the permit, so you do not have to argue your standing at all.

What a strong objection looks like

An objection is a submission, not a complaint, and the officer reading it is looking for provisions to apply. The ones that move a decision name the clause, state the standard, state what the proposal does instead, and state the effect at the objector's own address — the second limb of section 57(2), done properly.

Anchor the grounds to the provisions the applicant's own planning report cites. Those have already been through the council's completeness check as the relevant ones, and disputing a standard the applicant accepts is not met is a far shorter argument than importing a clause nobody has raised. Transitional provisions also mean an older clause numbering can still be the correct one for an application lodged before an amendment took effect, so mirroring the report is safer than modernising it.

Say what outcome you want. Refusal is one option, but so are specific changes: a window relocated or screened, an upper storey deleted, a setback increased, hours of operation restricted, a tree retained. Councils grant permits with conditions far more often than they refuse, and an objection that offers a conditionable change gives the officer something to do with it.

Real example

Worked example — a two-storey townhouse development next door

A four-townhouse development is advertised on the lot behind you in a General Residential Zone. Your concerns are the upper-floor balcony looking into your backyard, the loss of a large tree, and parking. Parking is the weakest of the three after VC277 — four dwellings with single garages will usually meet the new per-dwelling rate. The balcony is the strongest if the applicant's own report concedes the overlooking standard is not met, because a conceded failure of a Clause 55.04 standard also keeps your VCAT review rights alive. The tree depends entirely on whether an overlay or Clause 52.37 protects it; if nothing does, it is not a ground at all. Written that way, the objection names two live issues instead of three complaints, and preserves a right of review that the deemed-to-comply rules would otherwise have removed.

The statutory basis

Objection rights in Victoria come from Part 4 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 (Vic): section 57 (who may object, and what the objection must contain), section 57(1A) (owners and occupiers of covenant-benefited land deemed affected), sections 57(2A) and (2B) (rejection of commercially motivated objections), section 64 (notice of a decision to grant, and the bar on issuing the permit while review rights run), section 82 (objector review, and the scheme's power to exempt classes of decision) and section 82B (leave for an affected person who did not object). The provisions above were read from Authorised Version No. 168, incorporating amendments as at 28 October 2026.

The time limits are prescribed by regulation rather than by the Act. Regulation 35 of the Planning and Environment Interim Regulations 2026 (S.R. No. 40/2026) sets the objector's review period at 28 days after the date of the notice of decision; regulations 30 and 33 set the applicant's periods at 60 days. The Interim Regulations replaced the Planning and Environment Regulations 2015, under which the objector period was 21 days — the figure much older guidance still repeats. Read from Authorised Version No. 003, as at 28 October 2026.

This page explains how the process works. It is not advice on a particular application: the grounds that matter turn on the zone, the overlays and the advertised proposal at the specific address, and the exemption from review rights turns on which standards that proposal meets.

Planning and Environment Act 1987 (Vic) s 57

Any person who may be affected may object; the objection must state the reasons AND how the objector would be affected

Planning and Environment Act 1987 (Vic) s 64(1), (3)

Notice of decision to every objector; the permit must not be issued while the review period runs

Planning and Environment Act 1987 (Vic) s 82(1)–(3)

Objector review of a decision to grant — and the planning scheme's power to exempt classes of decision from it

Planning and Environment Interim Regulations 2026 (Vic) reg 35

An objector's application for review must be made within 28 days after the date of the notice of that decision

Planning and Environment Act 1987 (Vic) s 82B

An affected person who did not object may seek leave to apply for review, where a written objection was received

Victoria Planning Provisions, Clauses 54, 55 and 73.01

The residential standards an objection is argued against, and the mandatory garden area requirement

Frequently asked questions

How long do I have to object to a planning application in Victoria?

The Act sets no closing date. Section 57(1) lets any person who may be affected object, and an objection can be made until the responsible authority decides the application. The date on the notice is the council's administrative cut-off, not a statutory bar — but object within it anyway, because an objection that arrives after the officer has written their report carries much less weight, and one that arrives after the decision cannot be considered at all.

What are valid grounds to object to a planning application?

Grounds the planning scheme lets the council act on: overlooking, overshadowing, neighbourhood character, building height and bulk, setbacks and site coverage against the applicable Clause 54 or 55 standard, overlay objectives (heritage, landscape, design and development, vegetation, bushfire, flood), tree and canopy loss, and — for a non-residential use — noise, hours, lighting, odour, waste and traffic. Loss of property value, the applicant's identity, competition with your business and construction-period disruption are not planning grounds.

What must a Victorian objection letter contain?

Section 57(2) requires it to be in writing, to state the reasons for the objection, and to state how you would be affected by the grant of the permit. The second requirement is the one most objections leave out, and it is what turns a concern into something assessable — it ties a provision of the scheme to a consequence at your address. Quote the application number, and ask to be notified of the decision.

How long do I have to appeal to VCAT if the permit is granted?

28 days after the date of the Notice of Decision to Grant a Permit. That is regulation 35 of the Planning and Environment Interim Regulations 2026, applying to an objector's application for review under section 82(1) of the Act. Older guidance often says 21 days, which was the period under the revoked 2015 Regulations. The permit cannot be issued while those 28 days run.

Can I be stopped from appealing even though I objected?

Yes, and it is common. A planning scheme may exempt classes of application from objector review under section 82(2), and section 82(3) makes the exemption absolute. In the residential zones, where every applicable standard under Clause 55.02, Clauses 55.04-1 to 55.04-4 and Clause 55.05-2 is met, there is no notice of decision and no VCAT review right. One standard in that list that the applicant concedes is not met preserves your rights — which is why it is worth identifying before you write.

Does the number of objections decide the outcome?

No. The council weighs the planning merits, not the headcount. One objection that names the clause, the standard, what the proposal does instead and the effect at your address will carry more weight than fifty form letters. A large number of objections may affect whether the application goes to a council meeting rather than a delegate, but it does not change the test.

Why was I never told about the development next door?

Most likely one of three reasons: the proposal needed no planning permit at all (a single dwelling extension in a residential zone with no overlay often does not), the application was decided under the VicSmart pathway, which is exempt from public notice and decided within 10 business days, or the scheme exempted the application from notice. Ask the council which applies — the answer also tells you whether any review right exists.

I did not object. Can I still do anything once the permit is granted?

Possibly. Section 82B lets any person who is affected apply to the Tribunal for leave to apply for review of a decision to grant a permit, provided a written objection to the grant was received by the responsible authority from someone. You need the Tribunal's leave, and the permit applicant and the council get to be heard on it first, but it is not automatically too late.

Does objecting cost anything?

Lodging an objection with the council is free. Applying to VCAT for review attracts the Tribunal's own application fee, which VCAT sets and publishes. What we charge for is the writing — turning your concerns and the advertised proposal into a formal letter framed as planning grounds, in your own name.

Objection Letter from $99 — ready when you are

A formal objection to the council, written in your name — your concerns framed as planning grounds against the provisions that actually apply to the site, and the outcome you want stated plainly.