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                    Melbourne Planning Scheme

                    Heritage building on city street corner with high-rise buildings on either side
                    Planning schemes are legal documents that set out policies and provisions for the use, development and protection of land.

                    ​​​​Planning schemes refer to a large range of things, including limits for how tall a building can be, as well as ensuring orderly and sustainable use of land.

                    Every local government municipality in Victoria has a planning scheme to govern the use, development and protection of its land, underpinned by current and future needs. These vary from one municipality to another. They are prepared by a local council or the Minister for Planning and then approved by the Minister.

                    You can read more about planning schemes on the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning website.

                    The Melbourne Planning Scheme covers land in the City of Melbourne municipality. It contains state and local planning policies, zones and overlays and other provisions that affect how land can be used and developed.

                    Section 12B of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 requires Council to regularly review the Melbourne Planning Scheme to assess whether the Scheme implements state policy and to evaluate the overall performance of local policies, zones, overlays and schedules. The Melbourne Planning Scheme Review Report 2023 (PDF 649 KB)​ was approved by the Future Melbourne Committee at its meeting on 5 December 2023​ with the findings of the review reported to the Minister for Planning.​​​​​

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