Social impact assessment: strategic litigation tool for planning law decision-makers

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Towards better recognising 'community' in multi-owned property law and living

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Keeping municipal law making democratic

we have a duty to the community were planning for the whole of Melbourne, so were planning for the developers and the people who live here and the people who work here, people who come here every day. So were planning for everybody and weve got to balance everybodys needs and when somethings been to council and theres a decision on it, weve got to represent that view and we feel thats a community view, meaning all those parts, including developers. Thats why we do it

Use of planning agreements to support sustainability and environmental preservation: A case study from Victoria, Australia

Purpose - Sustainable values and implementation tools are now more widely included in Australian land use planning and development. Planning agreements are one instrument by which environmental values and preservation can be made more enduring, particularly as planning agreements run with the land. Little has been said about these agreements and the purpose of this paper is to strive to add to the body of knowledge in this area. The aim of this paper is to introduce a contextual framework for planning agreements, drawing on collaborative planning theory and practice. It also demonstrates how planning agreements can been used as a tool to preserve environmental values and principles generally, and more particularly the rich flora and fauna in the surrounding housing estate adjacent to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Cranbourne, Victoria, Australia. Design/methodology/approach - The paper relies on a case study from the municipality of Casey located in the state of Victoria and introduces measures taken, via planning agreements between the municipality and estate developers, to preserve green values and the flora and fauna located in the surrounds of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Cranbourne. Findings - The case study suggests that, whilst the planning agreements may have established excellent procedure and practice to preserve the flora and fauna at the botanic gardens and in its surrounds, the effectiveness of the planning agreements as an environmental preservation tool has limitations. This may be due to the lack of resources for more effective information dissemination and enforcement. Ultimately, it may have to be left to the goodwill of residents to ensure environmental protection of the botanic gardens and its surrounds is maintained

Tools for equitable urban intensification

Drawing on the neoliberal and equity planning literature as well as Tiesell and Allmendinger's (2005) four categories of planning tools, this paper seeks to recast the instrumentality of planning tools by examining what opportunities exist to foster more transparent and inclusive management of the urban change process, both from theoretical and practical perspectives. Focusing specifically on urban intensification of existing larger cities, the paper introduces the tensions embodied in delivering planning outcomes equitably in a neo-liberal planning context, and the unique role that planning 'tools' can serve in ameliorating these challenges. The paper will serve to position the author contributions in this special issue, which follow on from a Symposium held in Sydney in April 2013, which showcased urban intensification planning tools and strategies. In this introductory article, the authors argue for a need to critically reflect on how planning 'tools' catalyse urban intensification and the challenges associated with striving for socially equitable planning outcomes, in a neo-liberal reality, when relying on these tools

Mediating the neighbours

There has been an increase in owners corporations (formerly known as bodies corporate) in Melbourne over the past decade, largely through increased building of apartments and townhouses, mixed use blocks and master planned estate developments (MPEs). Where there is common property, there needs to be an owners corporation. To accommodate the increase in residential and mixed use forms that include jointly held assests, more sophisticated legislation has been enacted. In 2006 the Owners Corporations Act 2006 (the Act) was passed and came into force in December 200

Pre-action dispute resolution under the Owners Corporation Act 2006 (Vic): Teaching conflict resolution strategies

Dispute resolution under the Owners Corporation Act 2006 (Vic) requires owners corporations (formerly known as bodies corporate) to engage in a form of dispute resolution prior to litigation being brought to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. In this article, the authors discuss the legislation and policy approach informing the aim of encouraging early conflict engagement in disputes in owners corporations. The authors report on selected results from research into the experience of owners corporation disputes from the perspective of managers and owners corporation committees. The authors argue that the legislation is necessary given the wider use of owners corporations in developments and the likelihood of conflict occurring in legal entities holding communal assets in apartment complexes, medium density housing and master planned estates. However, the data shows that owners corporation managers and committees require education in conflict resolution strategies to more effectively engage in early dispute resolution as envisaged under the Act. This article outlines a training regime to provide conflict resolution skills and strategies to owners corporation managers and committees

Planning instruments and the urban change process

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Models of mediation: Dispute resolution design under the owners corporation act 2006 (Vic)

The introduction of the Owners Corporation Act 2006 (Vic) provides the opportunity to design a dispute resolution system for those who reside in owners corporations or, as they were previously known, bodies corporate. This article argues that a range of diverse models of mediation should be utilised in the internal dispute resolution systems of large owners corporations. In particular, a transformative model should be adopted where community, emotion and relationship issues are important concerns in a dispute. Selected associated design issues are also canvassed

Up in the Air(bnb): Can short-term rentals be tamed?

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