Planning process

Manningham City Council's overall vision for the Doncaster Hill precinct is outlined in the Doncaster Hill Strategy (2002) and endorses an integrated design approach to Doncaster Hill that incorporates objectives of ecological sustainable development (ESD).

To ensure the Doncaster Hill village benefits from this approach, Manningham City Council introduced new provisions into the Manningham Planning Scheme in February 2004. These controls represent the legal requirements for all permit applicants within Doncaster Hill. Incorporating sustainability principles into a development from the outset ensures a greater likelihood of successful development outcomes.

Core requirements to be addressed by all Doncaster Hill planning applications include addressing the precinct vision and objectives, and the preparation of a Sustainability Management Plan (SMP). The SMP ensures applicants address eight specific sustainable design elements throughout a building’s design and life whilst the precinct vision and objectives address matters such as land use, building height, setback and form.

In addition to the standard permit consideration process, developers will also be assisted by the Sustainable Design Taskforce, which provides input into development proposals within Manningham.

The Doncaster Hill Sustainability Guidelines, June 2004 provide direction to developers as to Councils expectations for the contents of their Sustainability Management Plan. Together with the policies in the Manningham Planning Scheme, developers can refer to the user-friendly information in the Guidelines to ensure that their proposal addresses the eight key performance areas.

Developers are requested to present their proposal at a Strategic Briefing Session (SBS) to brief Councillors on their development.

The steps

Developers are strongly encouraged to follow these steps when preparing a planning application