Alongside the release of the Discussion Paper there was an open consultation process capturing a wide range of stakeholder groups including councils, industry and Victorian Government officials. This was an essential undertaking to ensure that the areas canvassed in the Discussion Paper were well understood by key stakeholders and that they were well placed to contribute to the review process.
A number of activities were completed, including:
- publication of the Discussion Paper on the Engage Victoria website (the Discussion Paper was the second most downloaded file from Victorian Government domains during the consultation period
- an open submission process which attracted over 100 submissions (including 40 from local councils and 50 from a range of businesses, community groups and industry associations)
- a number of panel sessions and forums that were hosted by industry organisations where Advisory Board members and the Commissioner provided an overview of key areas of the Discussion Paper and facilitated open questions and answer sessions
- public briefings provided by the Commissioner and the review team that were offered to key industry stakeholders and councils (with these sessions live streamed to accommodate regional and rural stakeholders)
- a webinar through the Planning Institute of Australia which included a presentation by the Commissioner and an open Q&A session that involved over 200 planning practitioners
- workshops held in Gippsland to further test certain recommendation areas involving five Gippsland councils, a number of referral authorities and regional Department of Land Water and Planning (DELWP) staff
- promotion of the consultation process and the discussion paper release via DELWP local government news and via direct email to a wide range of industry and local government stakeholders.
This represented the second consultation period as part of the review with the initial round one consultation period attracting around 40 submissions.
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