Urban Planning Consultants Melbourne

Melbourne and its suburbs are constantly evolving.

As the city’s population booms, so too does the need for housing and development to keep up.

This presents a range of opportunities for developers, with councils more than ever willing to consider new opportunities to consolidate land and developments, build new homes, facilities and infrastructure to keep up with the demand.

Urban planning has a crucial role to play in that effort by allowing multiple stakeholders to collaborate such as property owners, consultants and councils to ensure the ongoing development of urban areas are carried out in a sustainable manner.

Whether you are an experienced developer or first time investor looking to maximise the value of an existing property, we can help you navigate the quagmire of regulations and red tape to find a solution that works for you.

Our firm consists of experienced urban planning consultants that have a range of experience working with various local councils throughout greater Melbourne to assist you with your next project. 

What is Urban Planning?

Urban planning is an increasingly important part of Barker Monahan’s town planning services, and deals with urban development in Melbourne’s CBD as well as the inner, middle and outer suburbs of Melbourne.

A niche service within Barker Monahan’s wider range of town planning services, urban planning typically deals with the use and/or development of properties in urban areas. This includes but is not limited to house extensions, multi-unit and medium density development, heritage additions, commercial and industrial uses and rezoning land of new commercial and residential areas.

The increasing importance of urban planning has been reflected in a number of councils around Melbourne. In some cases town planning departments have been completely rebranded as “urban planning departments”.

Typically, urban planning refers to any of the below scenarios:

• Converting single-lot dwellings into multi-unit sites.
• Development of apartment buildings.
• Development of mixed-use residential/commercial buildings.
• Extensions to heritage homes and buildings
• Converting old buildings such as warehouses into habitable residential buildings
• Rezoning land for commercial or residential use. 
• Changing commercial land uses e.g. converting a dwelling into a medical centre or an office into a restaurant. 

Urban planning is the process of working out what is possible and permissible on a property.

It is the art of preparing all the required expert advice and evidence to support a planning application.

It continues with the lodgment of that application and dealing with any objections.

If Council refuses a town planning application or objections direct the application to VCAT, Barker Monahan can assist with expert representation at the Tribunal. 

Urban planning is different to many other areas of town planning and should not be confused with:

Peri-Urban Planning - A mix of urban and rural planning. This is typical for development on the urban fringe.

Rural Planning - Typically deals with agricultural land use and the fragmentation of land in rural areas.

Coastal Planning - Typically deals with planning in coastal areas and accounts for additional factors such as rising sea levels.

Barker Monahan brings strong expertise across all urban planning areas to the table. 

You can be confident in the ability of our town planning department to help you achieve your urban planning goals in greater Melbourne.

Barker Monahan - Urban Planning Consultants You Can Trust

We have provided outstanding urban planning services to councils, communities and individuals alike for over five decades.

Our success in helping countless urban planning applications through the planning process has been underpinned by our knowledge and understanding of the various councils and their varying rules and regulations.

This allows Barker Monahan to provide our clients with clear and concise advice, as well as practical recommendations that save our clients time, money and heartbreak.

We understand local government. We understand the different councils, their varying rules and regulations and what they want to see.

Our Urban Planning Expertise

This expert advice will ensure Barker Monahan can help you:

• Analyse your plans for your property and provide pertinent advice on how your proposal can be enhanced
• Provide you with honest and realistic feedback on your development plans before you start the application process
• Prepare and submit a planning application
• Prepare responses to potential objections if necessary 
• Provide VCAT legal representation
• Provide expert evidence at VCAT

We understand the process from start to finish, meaning Barker Monahan can assist you with all types of urban planning queries and applications.

What this means for you

We take the stress and hassle out of your urban planning application.

With the high caliber of experience at Barker Monahan, we have fostered close working relationships with specialised consultants, including traffic engineers, architects, heritage consultants, arborists and ecologists to ensure you have a team behind your application to achieve the best result possible.

Barker Monahan's urban planning consultants bring absolute clarity to the matters at hand and combine expert advice from a wide range of specialists with the facts of the land and its surrounds to ensure a detailed planning process and application you can trust, from planning applications to representation at council meetings.

Barker Monahan’s town planning specialist can be engaged at any point of the planning process.

Whether you are looking for some advice on what is viable before you purchase a property, or stuck in the middle of the planning process and can’t seem to navigate the objections of council and/or the local community, Barker Monahan can be relied upon for great advice and even better solutions.

Contact us for an obligation-free chat today.