Regional Victoria and Southern NSW Planning — Sorted by Someone Who Knows It From the Inside
Over 30 years working with the planning schemes, the councils, and the complexities that catch people out…
Find out where you stand — before you spend more time or money
- 30+ years across the same councils and planning schemes — long enough to know exactly where applications succeed and where they come unstuck
- Applications rescued after refusal — because a second set of eyes that knows what council actually needed to see changes everything
- When other planning consultants hit a wall, they refer their hardest cases to us — because some matters need someone who knows how to find a way through
Most people who find this page are trying to work out where they stand.
Maybe you have a project in mind — a dwelling, a subdivision, a change of use — and you’re not sure whether planning will be straightforward or a problem. You’d rather know before you spend money on plans or surveys.
Or maybe you’re already further down the track. A permit that’s proved more complicated than it first appeared. A subdivision that keeps hitting walls. An application that came back refused and left you wondering whether it’s worth pursuing.
Either way, you need a straight answer before you go any further.
Whatever brought you here, you’re in the right place.
Leanne has spent more than 30 years working across rural and regional Victoria and southern New South Wales — not just processing applications, but solving the kinds of problems that don’t have obvious answers.
The ones that require someone who knows the local schemes intimately, understands how councils think, and can find pathways others miss.
In fact, she’s the person other planning consultancies call when a matter is outside their experience.
“A conversation with Leanne costs nothing. It can save you a great deal.”
What most people searching for planning help actually need to know
Whether you’re trying to work out if a permit is even required, or you’ve already had an application knocked back — it’s probably not because you missed something obvious.
Regional Victoria’s planning scheme wasn’t written for applicants. It was written for planners. Triggers, overlays, zone provisions, and local policy requirements interact in ways that aren’t signposted — and the guidance councils provide is rarely enough to tell you whether your project will fly, stall, or fail before you’ve spent a dollar on drawings.
And it’s getting harder, not easier.
State government planning reforms over recent years have added new layers of complexity to an already difficult system — changing what requires a permit, how applications are assessed, and what councils can and can’t approve. Many property owners and developers are working from an understanding of the rules that’s quietly out of date.
Getting the wrong answer early is expensive.
Not just in fees — in time, in redesigns, and in opportunities that quietly disappear while a matter sits unresolved.
The system is complicated. That’s not an excuse — it’s just the reality.
Honest Advice Before You Spend More Time or Money
Not every project should proceed without a frank assessment first.
Regional Planning Services is known for telling clients what is realistic — including when a matter is more difficult than it first appears, and what that means for their options.
When the planning got hard, they called us…
Their Application Was Refused. We Got It Approved
When a planning application submitted by another consultant was refused, the client came to Leanne to find out whether the project could still be rescued. She reviewed the issues behind the refusal, identified what the original submission had not adequately addressed, and guided the client through a revised approach.
The application was ultimately approved — an outcome the client had been told was unlikely.
What Happens When Difficult Planning Applications Land on One Desk
When a Ballarat landowner was told a dwelling on their farming zone block wasn’t possible — we found the pathway others had missed.
When a Shepparton area farmer needed a machinery shed permit before seeding season — we got it across the line without unnecessary back and forth.
When a planning application came back refused — we reviewed what went wrong and got it approved on resubmission.
When another consultancy hit a matter too complex to handle — they referred it to us.
When a rural subdivision looked like it couldn’t be done — we found the provision that made it work.
When a client had spent months getting conflicting advice from council and their conveyancer — one conversation with Leanne resolved it.
When a heritage overlay was complicating a straightforward extension — we knew exactly what council’s heritage adviser needed to see.
When a development was partially in a floodplain and approval looked uncertain — we worked through the referral requirements and kept the project viable.
There are dozens more. One of them almost certainly looks like yours...