Planning Permits in the Bushfire Management Overlay

The Bushfire Management Overlay (BMO) is applied under the Planning and Environment Act to areas with very high to extreme bushfire hazard. Planning permits regulate the use and development of land to ensure life and property can be protected from bushfire risk. 

All areas where the BMO applies are also in the Bushfire Prone Area (BPA), designated under the Building Act. 

We can advise whether your land is in a BPA, BMO, or schedule to the BMO, or you can search your address in the Victorian Government’s online mapping system, VicPlan https://mapshare.vic.gov.au/vicplan/ 

Planning permits, obtained through your local council, are required for all subdivisions, and to construct a building or carry out works associated with the following uses in the BMO:

• Accommodation
• Education centre
• Hospital
• Industry
• Leisure and recreation
• Office
• Place of assembly
• Retail premises
• Service station
• Timber production
• Warehouse

The application requirements for a planning permit in the BMO include a bushfire hazard site assessment, bushfire hazard landscape assessment, and bushfire management statement. 

The bushfire management statement describes how the proposal will meet the bushfire protection objectives of the bushfire planning provisions (Clause 53.02). These include building (BAL) construction, defendable space, water supply, and vehicle access requirements to reduce bushfire risk to life and property to an acceptable level. 

A bushfire management plan will also be provided to demonstrate how bushfire protection objectives will be met onsite. 

The BMO application pathway depends on the planning controls and proposed development. 

• Fast track pathway: Construction or extension of a single dwelling in a schedule to the BMO, where bushfire risk is addressed by meeting predefined bushfire protection measures.
• Pathway 1: Construct or carry out works associated with a single dwelling on land in the Neighbourhood Residential Zone, General Residential Zone, Urban Growth Zone, Low Density Residential Zone, Township Zone, or Rural Zone, where all approved measures in Clause 53.02-3 can be met.
• Pathway 2: All other buildings and works.
• Pathway 3: Subdivision applications.
• Streamlined: Sheds, garages, carports, or similar (non-habitable outbuildings) over 100 square metres in area, associated with a dwelling, and can meet the requirements in Clause 66.03.

Some buildings and works are exempt from a planning permit. For example:

• Dwelling extensions less than 50% of the existing floor area
• Extensions to buildings (other than a dwelling) less than 10% of the existing floor area
• Sheds, garages, and carports with an area less than 100 square metres

There are several exemptions within the BMO and across the Planning Scheme. All relevant planning controls, application requirements, and exemptions will be addressed within the bushfire planning report.