Planning & Environment
Our Planning and Environment team delivers commercially focused, strategic legal solutions across all stages of the development lifecycle. We understand the complexities of planning, local government decision-making and environmental regulation. We pride ourselves on providing clients with a competitive edge through practical, creative, and outcome-driven advice. We act for developers, private clients, responsible authorities and third parties.
Our Approach
Led by Matt Hughes, an experienced planning and environment lawyer, our team brings deep experience from both public and private sectors. This dual perspective enables our team to understand how planning decisions are made – and how to influence them effectively. Our team has strong working relationships with key state and local government decision makers, which represents a significant advantage for our clients.
Our team frequently appear as advocates for our clients before VCAT, Ministerial Advisory Committees and Planning Panels Victoria. We are experienced managers of complex infrastructure projects and developments through the complete lifecycle of conception to planning approval.
We take a proactive stance, aiming first to prevent issues before they arise, and second, to resolve them efficiently when they do. We are known for our ability to navigate complex regulatory frameworks and deliver clear, commercially sound guidance that aligns with our clients’ strategic objectives.
We know what drives the planning and construction industries and have considerable success reaching commercial agreements for planning approvals for our clients prior to the VCAT merits review hearing.
Our legal advice is grounded in commercial reality, informed by regulatory insight & experience, and tailored to deliver results. Our team is well-placed to assist with any planning, environment, rezoning, or local government issues affecting your development projects.
Our Services
Resolving land use conflict and securing development approvals
Planning law sits at the centre of land use conflict – between development objectives, environmental constraints, infrastructure requirements and community expectations.
Our Planning & Environment team advises clients navigating these competing pressures. We help developers, landowners, institutions and government authorities resolve land use conflict, manage regulatory risk and secure planning approvals.
Experience across the planning system
Effective planning advice requires insight into how land use decisions are actually made.
Our team brings experience from across the planning system, including:
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- private practice planning and environment law;
- State Government infrastructure and land acquisition projects; and
- Local Government planning and chief legal roles.
This perspective provides a practical understanding of how planning authorities, referral authorities and decision-makers assess development proposals and resolve competing land uses.
For clients, that means advice grounded in how the planning system operates in practice, not just how the legislation reads.
Strategic advice for development approvals
We advise on planning and environmental issues across all stages of development, particularly where projects involve complex land use conflicts.
Our work includes:
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- planning feasibility and development due diligence
- rezoning and planning scheme amendments (including DFP)
- planning permit strategy and project management
- infrastructure contributions and development levies
- restrictive covenants, easements, adverse possession and land constraints
- compulsory acquisition and land assembly
- cultural heritage and environmental regulation
- windfall gains tax and planning obligations
Advocacy in contested planning matters
Land use conflict often results in contested planning decisions.
We regularly represent clients in planning disputes before:
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- VCAT
- Planning Panels Victoria
- Ministerial Advisory Committees
Our focus is resolving land use conflict efficiently where possible, while providing strong advocacy when matters proceed to formal hearings.
Practical planning advice
Planning and environmental regulation ultimately determine whether development proceeds.
Our role is to help clients navigate land use conflict, secure approvals and keep projects moving.
Expertise
We provide a full suite of front-end, back-end, and regulatory town planning and environment services to clients across the building, construction, development and local government sectors, including:
- Advising on restrictive covenants, easements, compulsory land acquisition and processes under the Local Government Act(s)
- Advising on Windfall Gains Tax and other regulatory obligations
- Build-to-rent proposals
- Coastal planning
- Contesting applied levies under PSPs and DCPs
- Drafting and negotiating planning agreements
- Greenfield subdivisions
- Health, hospital and aged care developments
- Infrastructure projects
- Inner-ring residential development (specialising in contesting and navigating the complexities of sites subject to heritage overlays)
- Low-rise middle-ring developments and high-rise residential, retail, commercial and mixed-use developments
- Major road, civil and rail infrastructure projects
- Music festivals, places of assembly and other entertainment venues
- Navigating Cultural Heritage Management Plans
- Planning feasibility and due diligence advice
- Project managing planning permit applications, RFIs and amendments to permits
- Representing clients in VCAT and before Planning Panels Victoria
Examples
Some recent examples of our work in this space includes:
- advising on major infrastructure and development projects, such as the Suburban Rail Loop – East, Ardern Precinct Structure Plan, North East Link and various site-specific planning scheme amendments
- advising on complex planning disputes and approvals
- successfully negotiating Australia’s first purpose-designed build-to-rent planning permit by consent in advance of the contested VCAT hearing. The approval has delivered a dual-tower build-to-rent and office development delivering over 600 dwellings in South Yarra, Victoria
- acting for a private hospital in a streamlined and expedited Standing Advisory Committee Referral process to approve the new Warringal Private Hospital
- acting for an aged care provider and achieving a negotiated settlement with the objector parties and Council in advance of the contested VCAT hearing for the expansion of its Peninsula View Residential Aged Care facility
- acting for the Victorian Planning Authority in a nine-day Infrastructure Contributions Plan planning scheme amendment hearing
- advising a global supermarket brand on its entrance into the Victorian market and facilitating this opportunity via a bespoke Ministerial Advisory Committee process
