Alpine Shire Council noted the third Statutory Planning Service Delivery Improvement report at the ordinary council meeting held on Tuesday, 27 October 2026, which outlined actions being undertaken to improve the customer experience.
Since undertaking a regular reporting process to Council in June 2025, the Statutory Planning team has shown marked improvement through the acceleration of processing timeframes and development of consistent service delivery processes.
This has included the continuation of initiatives such as the planner on-call roster, which operates on business days, and the in-person Planner-in-Residence sessions, which take place monthly in Mount Beauty and Myrtleford to create an equitable service beyond Bright and surrounds.
During the reporting period between April and September 2026, Council continued to process more applications than it received each month, with the number of live applications sitting at 81 at the end of September.
The percentage of applications determined in less that 60 statutory days has also continued to improve.
The report also outlined the impact of the Planning Amendment (Better Decisions Made Faster) Act 2026 (Vic), which has introduced new processes for residential development in a bid to meet new statewide housing targets.
Consequently, developments that are deemed to comply with the provisions of the Act may be exempt from notification or appeal, meaning that councils across Victoria a reduced ability to refuse or substantially alter applications.
Alpine Shire Mayor, Cr Sarah Nicholas, acknowledged the prodigious amount of work that the Statutory Planning team has done to improve the customer experience over the past twelve months.
"It's terrific to have a whole year's worth of information now to look back at," she said.
"We've also seen an update of people using our Planner-in-Residence service, with 29 bookings over the past four months.
"It's really impressive from where we were to where we are now, and it looks like we're still accelerating up the curve."
Community members can book a Planner-in-Residence session in Mount Beauty and Myrtleford online on Council's website by visiting https://www.alpineshire.vic.gov.au/building-business/planning-services
Sessions in Mount Beauty take place at the Mount Beauty Library on the first Wednesday of the month between 1pm and 4.30pm, whilst the sessions in Myrtleford take place at the Myrtleford Library on the first Tuesday of the month between 1pm and 4.30pm.
These sessions will provide preliminary planning advice only. Conversations cannot provide certainty regarding planning outcomes or advise on other matters outside of the remit of local government planning, including issues on Victorian Government or Crown land.
The full Statutory Planning Service Delivery Improvement report can be found online by visiting https://www.alpineshire.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2026-10/M%2810%29_%2027_October_2026_Ordinary_Council_Meeting_Agenda_%28F%29.pdf#page=34