State planning reforms ushered in despite vocal opposition
Published on 19 December 2025
Council remains united against the state planning reforms despite the Better Decisions Made Faster bill passing into law during the final sitting of the Victorian Legislative Council for 2026.
Despite vocal opposition demanding the bill go to an inquiry; the bill was legislated with a 20-16 split. The Greens provided Labor the crossbench support they needed to get the bill across the line after some amendments were made regarding affordable housing and retaining parliamentary oversight of Ministerial amendments.
Despite the news, Mayor Cr Rabie has once again thanked the Mansfield Shire community for pulling together to sign the petition against planning reforms, a petition that amassed over 2400 signatures in a matter of weeks.
“We remain firmly united against these state planning reforms. The bill passing through without an inquiry was labelled an afront to democracy during the sitting in which it passed into law,” Mayor Cr Rabie said.
“The overwhelming response from the community was an inspiration and a resounding confirmation of the shire’s desire to ‘keep it country’. Our petition has not yet been presented before the Victorian Legislative Council. While it can no longer stop the bill from being legislated before being held to an inquiry, we hope the debate it sparks makes its way back to the community because that’s where this fight lies now, in the court of public opinion. We must hope the bill is as responded to as poorly within the community as the similarly poorly conceived Emergency Service and Volunteers Fund.”
Many implications of the planning reforms are still being explored by planning practitioners across the state. Some of these are set to have devastating impacts on the community.
We do know that the bill reduces community and council input into planning decisions, forcing through some approvals after as little as 10 days if they are deemed to comply with one size fits all state regulations.
“While the result is a disappointing blow, we must look ahead to consider what Council can do to continue the fight to protect our community’s voice and our town’s rural identity. Earlier in the year, the Premier expressed her desire to turn Victoria into ‘the townhouse capital of Australia’. That’s what we are fighting with these reforms.”