Use the planning pre-application discussion service to talk with Planning Officers, with the assistance of officers from other Council departments as required. You can use this service to:
- discuss your proposal
- identify key areas of concern
- understand the planning permit application process
Fees apply for this service.
After the meeting, Council will give you written feedback. This will give you a chance to revise your planning application before you formally lodge it.
If you request a second or subsequent pre-application meeting to discuss changes to your proposal, further fees will apply.
While Council cannot guarantee the outcome of an application, your application is more likely to succeed if you:
- prepare it well
- address and respond to relevant issues raised at the pre-application stage.
What you must provide when you apply
- a completed Planning Pre-Application Discussion Service Request Form (not required if your application is submitted via the Online Planning Portal)
Planning Pre-Application Discussion Service Request Form - 223KB
- all required supporting information for your proposal category (check the Pre-application Proposal Categories and Supporting Information Requirements sections below)
- the application fee
If you do not choose to submit your application via the Online Planning Portal and you wish to pay the application fee by credit card, please submit your application to Council and you will be sent an invoice. You can pay it on MyGreaterDandenong.com
Applications will not be formally lodged and cannot be processed until the full application fee has been paid.
Pre-application proposal categories
Average
- Residential - 10 or less dwellings
- Non-Residential - 250sqm to 2,000sqm
- Buildings and works less than $100,000
- Minor use applications, eg. office, medical centre
- Reduction in car parking between 1-10 spaces
- Removal of native vegetation
Complex
- Residential - between 11 and 99 dwellings
- Non-Residential – 2,000sqm to 10,000sqm
- Major buildings and works
- Reduction in car parking of 11 or more spaces and/or loss of existing on-street parking
- Major uses, eg. place of assembly, brothel, liquor licence, materials recycling
- Significant loss of native vegetation
- Planning Scheme matters
Regional / City Significance
- Residential - 100 or more dwellings
- Non-Residential - greater than 10,000sqm
- Significant Planning Scheme matters, eg. major rezoning, development plan
Supporting information requirements
For all proposed buildings and works applications
- Site plan
- Detailed drawings, including dimensioned floor plans, elevations and sections as necessary (for Average category proposals, drawings do not need to be fully completed and resolved, but must provide details of what is being proposed)
- Photographs of the site and surroundings
For all proposed use applications
- Site plan
- Details of the current use and the proposed future use; eg. the nature of the business, operating hours, number of employees, the type of vehicles that will come to the site and the number of vehicles per day / per hour
Additional requirements for Complex and Regional / City Significance proposals
- Transport and Traffic details including parking capacity and demand, vehicle trips, etc.
- Civil Engineering details
- Proposed Site and Environmental Management Plan scope (if applicable)
Submit your request
You can submit your request:
- electronically via the Online Planning Portal
- by email to council@cgd.vic.gov.au
- by post to Planning Department, City of Greater Dandenong, PO Box 200, Dandenong VIC 3175
- in person at the Planning Service Counter at the Greater Dandenong Civic Centre, Level 3, 225 Lonsdale Street, Dandenong
Council’s Statutory Planning Department prefers to receive correspondence and documents electronically. This helps improve processing times and reduces paper usage, supporting Council’s vision to be a sustainable city.
What happens next?
Once Council receives your valid request and payment, you will be offered the next available meeting date. You will also find out the name of the Planning Officer who will lead your pre-application meeting.
All pre-application meetings are held during Council business hours. Meetings may be held online via MS Teams, or in person at the Greater Dandenong Civic Centre.
Important note and disclaimer
Council will hold all information and correspondence you submit that relates to a pre-application proposal in its Records Document Management System. This includes:
- plans, drawings, photos, emails, etc.
- meeting notes and written feedback.
Any advice Council provides at the pre-application meeting is preliminary advice only. Council will attempt to provide clear and concise advice based on the:
- information tabled at the pre-application meeting
- relevant provisions within the Greater Dandenong Planning Scheme
This advice may be impacted by:
- changes to the Greater Dandenong Planning Scheme
- the design
- further information received
- referral advice
- site inspection
- the public notice process
- any other change of situation
