Waiting for Victoria: Why Wel.Co says State Planning isn’t Working

“They don’t sit and wait like Victoria does ... for something to have a bow on it and then have another bow on it, and then by the time you want to open that box, it’s undeliverable.” For Wel.Co founder and ex-AFL footballer Andrew Welsh, planning and how it works makes all the difference about when and where he develops. Wel.Co specialises in greenfield developments in South Australia, Victoria and Queensland. Speaking at The Urban Developer ’s Greater Melbourne Residential Developer Summit last month, Welsh, who played 162 games for Essendon, said South Australia and Queensland’s planning systems were well ahead of Victoria’s. “I find South Australia is really progressive in that space and we’re benefiting from that with our projects,” Welsh said. “Queensland is very similar: I find Queensland puts the infrastructure in a lot earlier than we do here in Victoria.” Planning creates no-go zones Welsh said there were areas within Victoria he avoided due to planning issues. Those include those with Precinct Structure Plans (PSP) determined by the Victorian Planning Association (VPA). PSPs are high-level strategic plans dictating the locations of specific land uses and infrastructure within precinct areas and are created in consultation with the community, landowners and stakeholders. “We stay outside of the VPA-run PSP process because it gives us greater control of those deliverables and makes sure that we are the only landowner in that rezoned area, so we are the only one that’s aligned to get what we want,” Welsh said. “Those developer-run PSPs ... we have had greater success in rather than ... the VPA-driven PSP areas because you don’t have the control of actually pushing that rezoning forward. “It costs me a lot more money to run the developer-led PSPs. “That’s what we did at Thornhill Park: it was successful.” Welsh said the delays in PSPs being approved made financial feasibility harder. “The challenge is, where is the price going to go?” Welsh said. “If we look at PSPs in Victoria that are not being approved now ... they’re going to fail the demand for certain areas, which is going to push that price even further.” ▲ Wel.Co founder Andrew Welsh speaking at The Urban Developer Greater Melbourne Residential Developer Summit last month. Welsh said he had started challenging councils on densities, pushing to increase densities so sites are prepared for market 18 months ahead of sales. He also questioned the 70:30 split the Victorian Government and the VPA have aimed for—70 per cent of new housing growth in established areas and 30 per cent in growth areas. “The prohibiting factor for a lot of market developers is always the cost to deliver something,” Welsh said. He said the target made sense for the Victorian Government around its plans for activity centres around transport hubs where new housing would be apartments. But he did not think the target helped in other cases despite it being possible to feasibly deliver activity centre apartment housing if it was done quickly. “The challenge today [is] we just don’t have the government on our side to do that because of the 70:30 aspirational targets they put in place,” Welsh said. “I think that that’s going to shift ... now that they’ve had it for a couple of years running and nothing’s really been done.” Accessibility and staffing drag on productivity Openness was key Welsh said, pointing to South Australia and Queensland. “We have a regular meeting with Nick Champion, who is the [SA] minister of development, planning and infrastructure.” Welsh said. “We have regular meetings with the Treasurer of South Australia.” ▲ Earthworks under way at Wel.Co’s Springwood development at Gawler in South Australia. In Victoria, Welsh cited cost blowouts, time blowouts and extra requirements. “I’ve got to start with a permit—awesome,” he said. “But I can’t deliver it because of all the conditions that are hanging off the back of it from all these referral authorities that are overreaching because they have best practice in the best world and the best time possible. “Because that’s what they learned at university, rather than what’s practicable and deliverable in the crisis that we’re sitting in.” He believes staffing is an issue. “If we look at the system and how it’s created, those that are making these key decisions in many cases ... I sort of get it, because they have not been in the system long enough to have the confidence to make those decisions, because then the councils don’t pay them enough,” Welsh said. “So they come from university, they go into council, they spend a bit of time ... they should be making decisions but they don’t because they are not educated and experienced enough—because they don’t get trained. “And then they go to the private sector and then we get stuck ... again with new people coming through.” Welsh said he believed there was a fear of making a decision because of perceived consequences if planners got it wrong, rather than making a decision because it’s right. “But at the end of the day here, they’re not making any decisions—which is impacting everyone.” ▲ Welsh is keen to avoid areas Precinct Structure Plans, such as Officer South ( pictured ) part of the Victorian Government's new 10-year-plan for PSPs. Greenfield market developers did a lot of the heavy lifting, Welsh said. “Infrastructure-wise, we pay a lot of fees, but they don’t come back to those areas that we need to be delivering that extra amenity from a government perspective.” Wel.Co now designs its communities to be walkable and livable rather than relying on the authorities. “We track the services really, because you might have the best site ... in the best location that you can be able to sell at the highest possible income,” Welsh said. “But if you can’t service it, or because of our poor catchments the water services aren’t going to be able to be delivered by Melbourne Water for a period of time, or you have got significant CHMP issues that are going to be difficult to overcome, and you’ve got disgruntled neighbours that don’t want you to allow you access through your property for those services ... you really just have no sites, to be honest.” He also said the entire planning process timeframe that was once around 18 months had blown out in many cases to five or more years. Part of this Welsh put down to referral authorities who were able to pause that planning process without justification. “Who is there to make sure that all the different authorities stick within their lane to get their best outcomes?” he said. “Someone needs to have a captain’s call and pull data into line, pull cultural heritage into line, get Melbourne Water to do their job.”

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