South Gippsland Planning Scheme Review: Have Your Say Before 26 July 2026

Category: Local News | Published: 13 July 2026 | Source: South Gippsland Shire Council, 30 June 2026 announcement

If you own, buy, develop, lease, farm or simply live on a property in South Gippsland, the next two weeks matter. The South Gippsland Shire Council is reviewing its Planning Scheme and submissions close at 11.59 pm on Sunday 26 July 2026. This is the most consequential local government planning process most property owners in the shire will engage with this year — and unlike most council consultations, the Planning Scheme is the document that actually decides what you can and cannot do with your land.

What is the Planning Scheme and why should property owners care?

The South Gippsland Planning Scheme is the legal document that sits under the Victorian Planning Provisions and sets out, in detail, how every parcel of land in the shire can be used. It controls:

• The zoning of your land (Residential, Rural Living, Farming, Industrial, Commercial, etc.)
• The overlays that apply to it (heritage, vegetation, bushfire, environmental significance, land subject to inundation)
• The permit requirements for buildings, subdivisions, uses and vegetation removal
• The particular provisions for agriculture, dwellings in rural zones, and tourism uses

In practice, the Planning Scheme is the rulebook that determines whether you can build a second dwelling, run a farmgate shop, subdivide a rural lot, or clear vegetation on your property. A change to a single overlay or a single schedule can move a property’s permitted use — and therefore its value — materially.

Why is the review happening now?

Under the Planning and Environment Act 1987, every council in Victoria is required to review its Planning Scheme every four years. The 2026 review is South Gippsland’s scheduled turn. The last review cycle would have concluded in 2022; the current review is the council’s formal opportunity to bring the scheme up to date with state policy, local conditions, and community feedback.

In practical terms, this is when the council asks: is the scheme still doing its job? Is the Farming Zone still protecting productive agricultural land appropriately? Is the Rural Living Zone still calibrated correctly? Are there new issues — short-stay accommodation, renewable energy, dwelling excision in farming areas — that the existing scheme does not handle well?

What is on the table in 2026

South Gippsland Shire has not published a draft amendment yet — the current consultation phase is the preamble to a possible future amendment, and council is using it to gather issues and priorities from the community before deciding what to formally propose. Based on the council’s published 30 June announcement and the Planning Scheme review program administered by the Victorian Planning Authority, the issues most likely to be raised include:

• Short-stay accommodation (the Airbnb / Stayz question) and its impact on long-term rental supply in towns like Inverloch, Venus Bay, Waratah Bay and Sandy Point
• Renewable energy facilities and how the scheme handles utility-scale solar and wind proposals in agricultural and rural living zones
• Subdivision in the Farming Zone, including the ongoing debate over minimum lot sizes, dwelling excisions and rural-residential creep
• Bushfire overlays, which the state government has progressively tightened since Black Summer
• Heritage and vegetation overlays, particularly the Significant Landscape Overlay and the Environmental Significance Overlay along the coast and around Wilsons Promontory’s edge

None of these are confirmed proposals. They are the issues council is most likely to receive submissions on, and the ones that will most directly affect property values and use rights in the shire.

Who should make a submission

The short answer: almost everyone with a stake in South Gippsland land. In detail:

• Landowners who have ever been frustrated by a permit requirement, an overlay they did not expect, or a use they wanted to add to their property
• Farmers whose enterprise is constrained or enabled by the current Farming Zone and rural-use provisions
• Tourism and hospitality operators whose business depends on the scheme’s treatment of short-stay accommodation and rural tourism
• Residents concerned about housing affordability, rental supply, or coastal character
• Agents, developers and planners who work with the scheme day-to-day and have specific technical feedback
• Environment and community groups with views on overlays, vegetation, biodiversity and coastal protection

Submissions do not need to be technical or long. The council is seeking community input on issues and priorities at this stage, not formal legal objections. A two-paragraph email about a specific issue you have experienced with the current scheme is a legitimate and useful submission.

How to make a submission

The simplest path is to follow the link in the council’s 30 June 2026 announcement, which will take you to the council’s Have Your Say portal. From there:

1. Register or log in to the consultation portal
2. Select the Planning Scheme Review project
3. Submit your feedback before 11.59 pm Sunday 26 July 2026

Submissions can also be made in writing to the council’s planning team via the contact details on the council’s main website. If you are planning a detailed submission, it is worth reading the existing South Gippsland Planning Scheme first so you can refer to specific clauses, overlays or schedules. The scheme is searchable online through the Planning Scheme Online portal.

What happens after 26 July

Submissions do not automatically translate into a scheme amendment. The council will receive the feedback, summarise it, and decide whether to prepare a formal planning scheme amendment. If it does, that amendment will go through its own separate public consultation process — which means a second chance to comment on the actual proposed changes. But the first round is where the council decides what to propose, so it is the round that matters most for setting the agenda.

For property owners, the practical timeline is: submissions close 26 July 2026, council considers feedback and decides whether to prepare an amendment (likely late 2026 to early 2027), and any resulting amendment would go through exhibition in 2027 or later. If your property is likely to be affected by a particular issue — for example, if you are considering subdividing a rural lot, or you have a short-stay operation that is non-conforming, or your land is on the boundary of a possible rezoning — the submission window is your best chance to influence the council’s view before any formal proposal is drafted.

Why we are writing about this on a property blog

Planning schemes are a property issue, not just a planning issue. The difference between a property that can be subdivided and one that cannot is, in many cases, six or seven figures of value. The difference between a Farming Zone and a Rural Living Zone is the difference between a productive agricultural asset and a lifestyle property. The difference between a heritage overlay and no overlay is a permit process that adds months and tens of thousands of dollars to a renovation.

Most property buyers in South Gippsland never read the Planning Scheme. Most sellers never mention it. The 26 July 2026 submission window is the moment to change that. If you are a current or future property owner in the shire, this is the most underused lever you have.

External references

• South Gippsland Shire Council — Feedback Sought on Planning Scheme (30 June 2026)
• South Gippsland Planning Scheme (current consolidated version)
• Planning Scheme Online (state portal)
• Department of Transport and Planning — four-yearly review program
• Landata — title, plan and document search

Submissions close 11.59 pm Sunday 26 July 2026. If you intend to make a substantive submission, do not leave it to the final weekend — the council’s Have Your Say portal has historically been slow under deadline load.