On 18 December 2025 the state government revised the car parking requirements within council planning schemes across Victoria, to support Action 5 of Plan for Victoria, i.e. to match car and bike parking requirements and bike facilities with demand. For Yarra, notable changes include:
- costly parking mandates eliminated, and replaced with maximums, for dwellings and offices across approximately half of Yarra, the areas with the best access to public transport
- costly parking mandates reduced for the remainder of Yarra
Clause 52.06 in Yarra’s Planning Scheme
Parking requirements are defined in Clause 52.06 of Yarra’s Planning Scheme, with maps available on VicPlan. Table 1 in the clause defines minimums and maximums for various land use types for each of the four categories of Public Transport Accessibility Level (PTAL).
Expected impacts
In Yarra, we expect that the impacts will be:
- reduced costs for applicants and Council
- people applying for permission to build apartments and office towers across half of Yarra will no longer need to pay a traffic engineering consultant to prepare a custom report justifying a reduction in parking requirements
- similarly, Officers will no longer need to review the custom reports, or prepare their own summary report to Councillors, regarding applications for a reduction in parking requirements
- instead, most developments will be permitted by right
- fewer objections received by Council
- neither residents nor Councillors will be able to object to applications based on claims of insufficient off-street parking
- instead, most developments will be permitted by right
- reduced timelines for applicants and Council
- it will be easier and faster to prepare an application for a planning permit
- Officers will be able to work through planning applications much faster; overall timelines will reduce
- Council resources re-directed toward better management of on-street parking
- expanded use of permit zones and time limits
- with expanded use of controls, it will be easier for residents to find a park near their home
Overall, we believe that this is a hugely beneficial reform for Yarra; stripping away a culture of objection and replacing it with a focus on how to best manage our limited public street space in a way that maximises overall community benefit.
Published 11 January 2026