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[2001] VCAT 1305
appellant. The Tribunal varied the Responsible Authority's decision. Permit No. 473/2000 was modified by replacing condition 1(a) with a requirement for small balconies for dwellings 5 and 6, screening along...
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The Tribunal did not accept the Council's requirement to keep the four rear homes as bed-sits. It considered the likely parking increase minor and manageable, and the refurbishment beneficial to the dwellings' appearance and residents' amenity. It allowed the proposal subject to small balconies and design measures addressing overlooking and light.
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1,983 words · generated 01/10/2026
In Lorenzini Group v Port Phillip CC [2001] VCAT 1305, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal's Planning List considered a review of a planning permit condition for land at 17 Canterbury Road, Middle Park. The decision identifies Anthony Liston as the Tribunal Member. The hearing took place on 11 May 2001, and the decision date shown is 28 May 2001.
The permit concerned restoration and conversion of an existing 10-room boarding house into two self-contained dwellings, as well as extension and refurbishment of four small dwellings at the rear. The proposal for the four rear bed-sits was to add a bedroom to each, converting them into one-bedroom dwellings (paragraph 1). The site was described in the catchwords as having a frontage of 10.06 metres and an area of 506 square metres, in a Residential 1 Zone and Heritage Overlay.
The Council's permit, issued on 8 January 2001, included condition 1(a). That condition required amended plans showing the deletion of alterations and additions to Apartments 3, 4, 5 and 6 at the rear, and retention of those apartments as existing bed-sits (paragraph 1). In substance, the condition prevented the proposed conversion of those four bed-sits into one-bedroom dwellings.
The Lorenzini Group applied under section 80 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 to review that condition. The decision record says the Tribunal varied the Council's decision. It replaced condition 1(a) with a requirement for small balconies for dwellings 5 and 6, screening on the south-eastern edge of those balconies to limit overlooking of the adjoining property, and highlight windows in the north-west-facing walls of dwellings 5 and 6. The Tribunal directed the Council to issue the modified permit under section 85(1)(e) of the Act.
The reasons are short and expressly described as a summary of oral reasons given at the end of the hearing (paragraph 2). They record a merits assessment of parking, the condition of the existing dwellings, and the balance between increased use and improved amenity. They do not set out the full permit plans, the Council's complete assessment, or the text of sections 80 and 85(1)(e).
The Tribunal's central reasoning was that the expected consequences of the proposed intensification were outweighed by the amenity improvements, with design adjustments to address particular concerns.
First, it considered parking. The Tribunal accepted that converting the bed-sits into one-bedroom dwellings was likely to create some minor increase in parking demand. It did not treat that increase in isolation. It considered the site's proximity to public transport, the existing subdivision pattern, and the availability of on-street and off-street parking in the wider area. It concluded that these circumstances meant the additional demand could be readily absorbed. The reasons add that this assessment was supported by advice from the Council's own traffic engineer (paragraph 2). The decision does not state a quantified parking demand, parking ratio, or precise number of available spaces.
Second, the Tribunal considered the existing condition and amenity of the rear dwellings. It described the bed-sits as unsightly and in need of refurbishment. It regarded it as reasonable for the landowner to seek to maximise the return from the property, having regard to the outlays needed for refurbishment. It also found that the works would substantially improve the appearance of the site and go some way towards improving the internal amenity of the existing bed-sits (paragraph 2). The reasons therefore treated the proposal as more than an increase in dwelling size: it was also an opportunity to improve the existing accommodation and site.
Third, it balanced those benefits against the effects of intensification. The Tribunal stated that a balance could be struck between intensification and improvements to residents' amenity. It concluded that the amenity improvement for occupants outweighed any disbenefit from intensifying the use (paragraph 2). That is the decision's central evaluative conclusion. It is expressed in relation to this proposal and these circumstances, rather than as a general rule that amenity improvements always outweigh increased intensity.
Finally, the Tribunal identified measures discussed during the hearing. Small balconies for dwellings 5 and 6 would be accessible from the living rooms and extend over the proposed courtyards for dwellings 3 and 4. Highlight windows in the north-west-facing living room/kitchen walls would improve northern light. Screening on the south-eastern sides of the balconies was needed to prevent overlooking into the adjoining property (paragraph 3). These details became the replacement wording for condition 1(a). The decision thus allowed the proposed works while retaining specific design controls for overlooking and light.
This decision is a short, site-specific VCAT planning review. Its recorded legal sources are sections 80 and 85(1)(e) of the Planning and Environment Act 1987. The catchwords describe the matter as an application under section 80 to review conditions in a permit. The order states that the Council was directed to issue a modified permit under section 85(1)(e). The judgment does not reproduce either section's full text or explain their general operation. Accordingly, the decision supports describing the procedural route and the order made, but not a broader account of the statutory tests.
Before the Tribunal's review, condition 1(a) required deletion of the alterations and additions to Apartments 3–6 and retention of the rear apartments as bed-sits. After the review, that deletion requirement was replaced with specified measures for dwellings 5 and 6: small balconies, south-eastern screening, and north-west-facing highlight windows. The supplied judgment does not set out the rest of the permit conditions, so the effect of the order should be understood as the modification of condition 1(a), not a complete account of every permit requirement.
The reasons do not purport to change a general legal test for assessing planning proposals. Their contribution in this record is the Tribunal's application of contextual planning considerations: the expected degree of parking demand, public transport and local parking conditions, the state and amenity of existing dwellings, and the use of design measures to address overlooking and light. The judgment does not cite a prior decision or formulate a general precedent rule.
At paragraph 2, the Tribunal said that “any minor intensification of car parking demand as a consequence of these proposals can be readily absorbed in the area.” In plain English, the Tribunal accepted there would probably be some extra parking demand, but considered the surrounding area's transport and parking circumstances adequate to accommodate it. The decision refers to the Council traffic engineer's advice as support, but does not give the engineer's underlying analysis.
The Tribunal also said that “the improvement to the amenity of these dwellings for occupants outweighs any disbenefit as a result of the intensification of the use” (paragraph 2). In plain English, it considered the benefits to residents from the proposed works more significant than the identified downside of making more intensive use of the site. That is the Tribunal's balancing conclusion on the evidence and proposal before it; the text does not say that the same balance applies automatically to other developments.
Paragraph 3 explains the design changes. The proposed balconies would be accessed from the living rooms of dwellings 5 and 6 and extend over the courtyards for dwellings 3 and 4. The Tribunal identified highlight windows as a way to improve northern light, and screening as a means of preventing overlooking into the adjoining property. In practical terms, the order did not simply remove the Council's condition. It substituted a different condition with specified amenity protections.
The operative order is important alongside the reasons. It directs replacement of subcondition (a), rather than removal of all of condition 1. The rest of condition 1 and the permit is not reproduced in full in the supplied decision.
The decision is most directly relevant as an example where a permit condition would prevent changes to existing small dwellings, and the Tribunal considers whether a limited increase in residential intensity can be accommodated alongside improvements to the dwellings. The factual features recorded here include an existing boarding house and rear bed-sits, a proposal to add a bedroom to each of four rear dwellings, and a local setting where the Tribunal considered public transport and existing parking availability relevant.
The reasoning may be useful for identifying the kinds of matters that were material in this particular review: the scale of likely additional parking demand; the local availability of on-street and off-street parking; public transport proximity; the existing condition and amenity of the dwellings; and whether design measures can address effects such as overlooking and access to light. The decision itself does not provide a comprehensive checklist or say that these factors are exhaustive.
Its factual reach should be kept narrow. The reasons do not provide detailed measurements of separation distances, balcony dimensions, screening specifications, daylight outcomes, traffic counts, or the adjoining property's precise layout. Nor do they explain how the Heritage Overlay affected the assessment. The catchwords identify a Heritage Overlay, but the reasons do not discuss heritage impacts. The case therefore cannot, from this text alone, establish how those matters would be assessed in a different proposal.
The supplied judgment contains no discussion of later cases, and no later treatment is included in the materials provided. It is therefore not possible, on this source alone, to say whether later courts or tribunals followed, distinguished, applied, or criticised the decision.
The decision cites no earlier cases in its reasons. Its legal reasoning is presented as an assessment of the proposal and the particular permit condition, rather than as an account of precedent. Any claim about its later status, subsequent application, or relationship to other planning decisions would require sources beyond this judgment.
For research purposes, the reliable propositions available from this text are limited to the Tribunal's stated findings and the wording of its order. It found a minor increase in parking demand could be absorbed in the area, considered the refurbishment and amenity benefits significant, and replaced the deletion condition with specified design measures. It does not establish how frequently that reasoning has been used since.
Several matters remain unanswered by the brief reasons. The judgment does not reproduce the full plans or the evidence about the existing and proposed layouts. It does not quantify the expected parking increase or describe the Council traffic engineer's reasoning beyond saying that the Tribunal's conclusion was supported by the engineer's advice. It also does not set out the detailed submissions of either party.
The Tribunal records that the balconies would extend over the proposed courtyards for dwellings 3 and 4, but does not explain whether that arrangement raised other issues or how the dimensions and practical usability of those outdoor areas were assessed. The reasons say the balconies required screening to the south-east to prevent overlooking, but do not specify screening height, materials, or performance criteria. The order itself requires screening along that edge to limit overlooking of the adjoining property.
The relationship between the proposal and the Heritage Overlay is also not addressed in the reasons. Although the catchwords identify the overlay, the available text does not state whether heritage considerations were disputed, resolved by the plans, or dealt with elsewhere in the permit process. Similarly, the decision does not set out the basis for treating the existing bed-sits' refurbishment as relevant to the balance beyond the observations in paragraph 2.
These omissions do not undermine the recorded disposition, but they limit the scope of what can safely be drawn from the decision. It is a short account of one planning review, with a narrow condition modification and a concise explanation of the Tribunal's balancing assessment.
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Application under Section 80 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 (the Act) to review conditions in a permit.
for cancellation/amendment of a permit. Permit Application No. 473/2000. Residential 1 Zone. Heritage Overlay. Dwellings (alteration of existing dwellings). Site (Frontage 10.06 metres, Area 506 square metres). Density. Building envelope. Private open space. Energy efficiency. Privacy. Car parking,
The order of the Tribunal is that the decision of the Responsible Authority is varied.
Permit No. 473/2000 issued by the Responsible Authority on 8th January 2001 is modified by:
Replacing sub condition (a) of condition 1 with the following:
(a) provision of a small balcony for both dwellings 5 and 6 with screening along the south eastern edge of such balconies to limit overlooking of the adjoining property, and the provision of high light windows in the north-west facing walls of dwellings 5 and 6.
The Responsible Authority is directed to issue a modified permit in accordance with this order under the provisions of Section 85(1)(e) of the Planning and Environment Act 1987.
Mr Dominic Scally, Solicitor, appeared on behalf of the Responsible Authority.
Mr Alan Lorenzini appeared on behalf of the Applicant for Review.
1. This is an application to review condition 1(a) set out in a permit issued by the Responsible Authority for the restoration and conversion of an existing 10 room boarding house into two self-contained dwellings and for the extension and refurbishment of four small dwellings at the rear of the boarding house. The proposal in respect of these four small bed-sits at the rear of the property was basically to convert them into one bedroom dwellings by the addition of a bedroom in each case. It is the Responsible Authority's basic contention that the addition of these bedrooms will result in an overdevelopment of the site and as a consequence the Responsible Authority imposed condition 1(a) which states:
"Before the development starts, amended plans to the satisfaction of the Responsible Authority must be submitted to and approved by the Responsible Authority. When approved, the plans will be endorsed and will then form part of the permit. The plans must be generally in accordance with those marked revision 2 but modified to show:
(a) deletion of alterations and additions to Apartments 3, 4, 5 and 6, at rear, and retention of bed-sit apartments as existing."
2. The Tribunal gave oral reasons for its decision to allow the application at the conclusion of the hearing. A summary of the Tribunal's reasons are:
* The conversion of the existing bed-sits into one bedroom dwellings is likely to result in some minor increase in car parking demand. If one has regard to the proximity of public transport, the existing subdivision pattern and the consequent availability of both on-street and off-street car parking in the general vicinity of the site, these factors all indicate that any minor intensification of car parking demand as a consequence of these proposals can be readily absorbed in the area. These conclusions are supported by the advise of the Responsible Authority own traffic engineer.
* The existing bed-sits are unsightly and in need of refurbishment. It is reasonable for the applicant to seek to maximise the return available to the owner of the land having regard to the outlays that will be necessary to refurbish the existing building. The alterations will substantially improve the appearance of the site. The alterations go some way to improving the internal amenity of the existing bed-sits.
* In this case a balance can be struck between the intensification of the use and the improvements of the amenity of the residents of these existing dwellings. The alteration shown on the plans, together with some additional measures discussed during the course of the hearing, in my view mean that the improvement to the amenity of these dwellings for occupants outweighs any disbenefit as a result of the intensification of the use.
3. The modifications discussed during the hearing were the provision of small balconies for dwellings 5 and 6, with access from the living room of these dwellings. The balconies will extend over the courtyards proposed for dwellings 3 and 4 below. New highlight windows can also be provided in the north-west facing wall of the living room/kitchen of dwellings 5 and 6 to improve northern light into these dwellings. The balconies proposed need to be screened to south-eastern, to prevent overlooking into the adjoining property.
Lorenzini Group
Port Phillip CC [2001] VCAT 1305
The Tribunal varied the Responsible Authority's decision. Permit No. 473/2000 was modified by replacing condition 1(a) with a requirement for small balconies for dwellings 5 and 6, screening along the south-eastern edge of those balconies to limit overlooking, and highlight windows in the north-west-facing walls of dwellings 5 and 6. The Responsible Authority was directed to issue the modified permit under section 85(1)(e) of the Planning and Environment Act 1987.