Insights Library

Recent Decisions Clarify Ambit of Discretion

In recent years the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has issued a number of decisions…

Tania Cincotta 3 April 2025

Recent Precinct Structure Plans and the SRLA Precincts

Casey Fields South and Devon Meadows PSP What is it? The Casey Fields South (Employment)…

Eliza Minney & Chris Boocock 17 March 2025

What is the meaning of “Mid-rise” development and what land is within the environs of the Yarra River Corridor?

In Scoventure Pty Ltd v Yarra CC (Red dot) [2024] VCAT 12071, VCAT granted a…

Dominic Scally & Jun Yu 6 March 2025

In recent months, I have been reading and listening to opinion pieces on the “housing…

John Cicero 10 February 2025

INDUSTRY ALERT: Key implications arising from the recent Consumer and Planning Legislation Amendment (Housing Statement Reform) Bill 2024

The Consumer and Planning Legislation Amendment (Housing Statement Reform) Bill 2024 (Bill) seeks to introduce…

Eliza Minney & Chris Boocock 2 December 2024

VNI West Project’s New Alignment Released: What It Means for Affected Landowners

In late October 2024, Transmission Company Victoria (TCV) unveiled its preferred alignment for the Victoria-NSW…

Sebastian Greenway & Jonathan Hourigan 30 October 2024

Victoria’s New Developer Contributions Framework – What Developers Need to Know

The Victorian Government has announced a comprehensive overhaul of the state’s developer contributions system, marking…

Joel Snyder & Jonathan Hourigan 23 October 2024

Navigating the Complexities of Drainage Schemes and Asset Delivery

Effective drainage schemes are crucial for urban development, ensuring flood protection, water quality, and environmental…

Joel Snyder & Jonathan Hourigan 17 September 2024

“Protecting” Melbourne’s Green Wedges and Agricultural Land Action Plan

The Victorian Government recently released Melbourne’s Green Wedges and Agricultural Land Action Plan (Action Plan)….

Edward Mahony 9 August 2024

Celebrating Internal Promotions at Best Hooper Lawyers

Best Hooper Lawyers is pleased to announce the promotions of these outstanding professionals who have…

Best Hooper 9 July 2024

New Commercial and Industrial Property Tax Commencing 1 July 2024

Legislation for the new Commercial and Industrial Property Tax (CIPT) has now passed Parliament and…

Maliq Maideen 29 May 2024

Important Amendments to GAIC and Section 35 Plans

The State Parliament has introduced the State Taxation Acts Amendment Bill 2024, which proposes to…

Joel Snyder & Jonathan Hourigan 16 May 2024

Development in proximity to Major Hazard Facilities: an update on how the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal is handling objections from WorkSafe Victoria

On 1 November 2023, our office wrote an article about the implications of the decision…

Chris Boocock & Eliza Minney 2 April 2024

A Guide to Land Tax Objections

If you are a landowner in Victoria and received a land tax notice from the…

Lauren Cullen 15 March 2024

Amendment VC254 – Major changes to existing use rights under Clause 63.11

Amendment VC254 was gazetted Monday and introduces a key change to the text of Clause…

Eliza Minney & Emily Marson 14 February 2024

The Minister confirms the VPA’s priorities for 2023/24 to deliver housing and jobs

Towards the end of 2023, the Minister for Planning (Minister) approved the Victorian Planning Authority’s…

Eliza Minney & Jonathan Hourigan 4 February 2024

Recent VCAT decision takes a different view re. the codification of the ResCode standards following Amendment VC243

There now appears to be two decisions of the Tribunal which take different views when…

Eliza Minney & Chris Boocock 23 November 2023

Codification of ResCode Standards

In the first reported decision since the gazettal of Amendment VC243 (Amendment), VCAT has provided…

Emily Marson 13 October 2023

Victorian Government’s Housing Statement – Key changes and what we know so far

After months of speculation, the State Government has released the “Victoria’s Housing Statement” (VHS) seeking…

Eliza Minney & Edward Mahony 20 September 2023

What is the relevance of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (the Charter) to applications for review in the planning jurisdiction?

A recent decision of the Tribunal in respect of an application to strike out grounds…

Chris Boocock & Dominic Scally 21 July 2023

Review of Valuation of Land for Properties encumbered by Heritage Overlays.

Review of Valuation of Land for Properties encumbered by Heritage Overlays.   In the recent decision…

Joel Snyder & Lauren Cullen 7 July 2023

Giancarlo Romano nominated again for “Real Estate Partner of the Year 2023”

We are excited to announce that Giancarlo Romano, our Principal Lawyer and Head of the…

Best Hooper 25 June 2023

Industry Update – Changes to Growth Areas Infrastructure Contribution and Section 35 Plans

* Please note there have been Further changes to GAIC and the details can be…

Joel Snyder & Jonathan Hourigan 9 June 2023

Proceed with Caution – 15 Year exemption from the Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic)

Proceed with Caution – 15 Year exemption from the Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic) The…

Giancarlo Romano 17 May 2023

In person listings unlikely to be varied – learnings from the Tribunal

In person listings unlikely to be varied – learnings from the Tribunal in Leon Park…

Eliza Minney & Chris Boocock 7 December 2022

Failure Appeals – Beware

This article provides commentary on the recent decision by the Deputy President in Sharma v…

Edward Mahony 12 September 2022

Two strikes and you’re out

Wood v East Gippsland SC [2022] VCAT 651 – Striking Out Objector Applications for Review…

Best Hooper 23 June 2022

Giancarlo Romano shortlisted in five Categories including “Partner of the Year” across the Lawyers Weekly Partner of the Year Awards and the Australian Law Awards 2022.

Best Hooper is proud to announce that Giancarlo Romano has been named as a finalist…

Giancarlo Romano 19 June 2022

Cautionary Tale – Lodging appeals within time and recent line of decisions on late objector appeals

Cautionary tale – lodging appeals within time and recent line of decisions on late objector…

Eliza Minney 23 March 2022

Green Gold Energy v Minister of Planning – Renewable Energy Facilities in Declared Irrigation Districts

John Cicero and Edward Mahony of our office recently successfully represented the Permit Applicant in…

Edward Mahony 14 February 2022

Meet our Land Development and Compulsory Acquisitions Team

Best Hooper is excited to announce the expansion of our Land Development and Compulsory Acquisitions…

Best Hooper 24 November 2021

Green light to issue domestic building disputes in the County Court instead of VCAT

Applications made under section 57 of the Domestic Building Contracts At 1995 (Vic) (the DBCA) to stay a ‘domestic building…

Andy Vicendese 3 November 2021

Major Amendments to Stamp Duty and Land Tax in Victoria: The winners and losers

The Victorian budget delivered on 20th May 2021 proposed some highly controversial and almost immediate…

Giancarlo Romano 17 June 2021

Case Update: Scope of Council Powers in relation to Compulsory Acquisition

Manor Central Nominees Pty Ltd v Wyndham City Council [2021] VSC 92 This case concerns…

Best Hooper 11 June 2021

VCAT Update – A return to face to face hearings

Eliza Minney, Senior Associate, of our office was part of a small group of industry…

Eliza Minney 28 May 2021

The Dangers of Service by Post

Legislation often allows for the service of documents by sending them through the postal service….

Robert McKay 27 April 2021

Amendment GC172- policy neutral or material impact?

Recently, the Minister introduced Planning Scheme Amendment GC172 into a number of planning schemes across…

Edward Mahony 29 March 2021

Roll out of Stage One of the Suburban Rail Loop

As part of the State Government’s “Victoria’s Big Build”, the Suburban Rail Loop (the Loop)…

Joel Snyder 1 March 2021

Leasing Update: Extension of Relief – and some Surprises

A new Bill was introduced on 2nd September 2020 titled the COVID-19 Commercial and Residential…

Giancarlo Romano 15 September 2020

Giancarlo Romano, our newest Principal Lawyer

We are delighted to announce the appointment of our newest Principal Lawyer Giancarlo Romano as…

Best Hooper 15 July 2020

Roll Out of North East Link Acquisitions Commences

The Department of Transport has commenced the acquisition process for land affected by the North…

Emily Marson 29 May 2020

COVID-19 – A little bit of positivity goes a long way

As featured on Urban.com.au on 20 May 2020 view article Us lawyers, whether we like…

Giancarlo Romano 21 May 2020

Amendments to Corporations Act in Response to COVID-19

On Tuesday 5 May 2020, the Treasurer announced changes to the Corporations Act 2001 and…

Best Hooper 10 May 2020

Leasing Update: New Regulations Place Onus on Tenants

All you need to know if you are a party to a Commercial Lease during…

Giancarlo Romano 8 May 2020

Planning and Development Update: Omnibus Bill

The Victorian Parliament passed the COVID-19 Omnibus (Emergency Measures) Bill 2020 (Bill) today. The Bill…

Best Hooper 23 April 2020

Leasing Update: “Mandatory Code of Conduct” Announced for Commercial Tenancy Relief

On 7 April 2020, the Prime Minister announced a ‘Mandatory Code of Conduct’ approved by…

Giancarlo Romano 15 April 2020

COVID-19 – Practical Solutions for landlords and tenants (Part 3)

The COVID-19 health crisis has escalated quickly into an unprecedented economic crisis. Government intervention is…

Giancarlo Romano 6 April 2020

COVID-19 Leasing Trilogy – a legal overview for landlords and tenants (Part 1)

COVID-19 has forced individuals into isolation, businesses into indefinite closure, communities into uncertainty and economies…

Giancarlo Romano & Robert McKay 6 April 2020

Have Water Authorities Gone Too Far?

As we understand it, there is a long-standing practice of water authorities entering private land…

Joel Snyder 20 January 2020

UDIA Life Member Award

The Best Hooper team are proud to announce that Principal, John Cicero has been made…

Best Hooper 18 December 2019

Have we hit bottom of the market – population and building approvals projections?

The Urban Design Institute of Australia (“UDIA”) residential development index yearly update research 2019 was…

Robert McKay 19 September 2019

Best Hooper recognised as a First Tier Planning and Environment Firm and five lawyers recognised in The Doyle’s Guide 2019

The Doyle’s Guide 2019 Victorian Planning & Environment Law Rankings have just been announced and…

Best Hooper 20 May 2019

The Roll-Out of Reformed Infrastructure Contributions Plan

The Infrastructure Contributions Plan (ICP) system was reformed by the ascent of the Planning and Environment…

Joel Snyder 8 January 2019

VCAT Decision Small Lot Exemption Aboriginal Heritage Regulations

The Aboriginal Heritage Regulations 2018 (“AH Regs”) commenced on 23 May 2018. The Tribunal in…

Best Hooper 26 November 2018

Garden Area application – per lot or planning unit?

This was considered in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (‘VCAT’) decision of Sargentson v…

Edward Mahony 30 October 2018

Integrated Decision Making – A Timely Reminder

Best Hooper successfully acted on behalf of the Stonnington City Council (Council) in the Victorian…

Best Hooper 4 September 2018

Garden area requirement Tribunal decisions, clarity or confusion?

In the recently published decisions of Sargentson v Campaspe SC (Red Dot) [2018] VCAT 7110…

Emily Marson 9 May 2018

Best Hooper recognised in The Doyle’s Guide 2018

The Doyle’s Guide 2018 Victorian Planning & Environment Law Rankings have just been announced.  Best…

Best Hooper 2 May 2018

Rose Maina now Senior Associate at Best Hooper

Best Hooper is pleased to announce the successful promotion of Rose Maina to Senior Associate…

Best Hooper 20 March 2018

Due Diligence – How Much is Enough?

When purchasing existing residential premises, most people do not consider due diligence until after they’ve entered into a contract to buy the property. This is a common mistake.

Best Hooper 16 December 2017

Planning scheme amendments to remove/vary restrictive covenants

There are four principal ways to remove/vary covenants in Victoria: By application to the Supreme…

Edward Mahony 30 August 2017

Report and Consent’ under the building regulations – What it is, and what it isn’t

Report and Consent – What it is: The Building Interim Regulations 2017 (Vic) and its…

Best Hooper 22 August 2017

Landowners – Know your rights

As the boundaries of urban Melbourne continue to expand, there’s an increasing demand for new…

Joel Snyder 26 July 2017

Recognised In The Best Lawyers List

Best Hooper lawyers John Cicero (Principal), Ian Pitt (Q – Special Counsel) and Teresa Bisucci…

Best Hooper 12 July 2017

Title Insurance Holds the key for Homeowners and Buyers

If you’re a current homeowner, selling a property or developing land, there is a raft…

Giancarlo Romano 22 June 2017

Melbourne’s Population Set To Soar

Melbourne is Australia’s fastest growing city and predictions indicate its population could soar to 7…

Dominic Scally 22 May 2017

Best Hooper Launches New Property Transaction Services Division

Best Hooper’s new Property Transaction Services division launched last month, with a fresh, holistic approach…

Giancarlo Romano 12 May 2017

The State Government’s Changes To Residential Zones

The long-awaited amendments to the residential zones will be gazetted on 27 March 2017 via…

Emily Marson 27 March 2017

Tribunal’s Latest Decision on the Meaning of Natural Ground Level

Faversham Mews Pty Ltd V Boroondara CC [2016] VCAT 1954 (“Faversham Mews”) This case commenced…

Best Hooper 28 January 2017

The Infrastructure Contributions Plan and Melbourne’s Greenfield Growth Areas

We all know that development contributions help fund vital infrastructure in key growth areas of…

John Cicero 9 December 2016

VCAT Decision Favours Laneway Development

The Moonee Valley City Council’s refusal to grant a planning permit for a residential development…

Best Hooper 11 November 2016