Consultation on solar energy systems in heritage areas

On 1 July, the Heritage Council was invited by the Department of Transport and Planning to participate in a consultation being conducting through Engage Victoria about switching off the planning permit requirement for visible solar energy systems in the Heritage Overlay Schedules. The Council was invited to comment on the question of whether:

• a planning permit to install a solar energy system should be required in areas covered by a local Heritage Overlay
• all Heritage Overlay schedules should have the need for a planning permit to be ‘switched off’, thereby necessitating councils to reintroduce, via a planning scheme amendment, a requirement for a planning permit in an area covered by the Heritage Overlay
• local councils should have the ability to ‘switch on’ the requirement for a planning permit in an area covered by the Heritage Overy through a planning scheme amendment.  

After considering the matter and gathering advice from its Local Government Specialist Committee, the Heritage Council has made a submission.

• Heritage Council’s submission

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