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Planning & Environment

Russell Kennedy has one of Victoria's strongest planning and environment law teams. We provide comprehensive legal advice and regulatory services for government and private clients facing complex planning and environment matters. 

We work with the Victorian Government, more than 50 Victorian municipal councils and most of the state’s rural, regional and metropolitan water corporations. We also support private corporations in the waste and resource recovery sector, and industrial and property development clients.

We’re experts in environmental law, strategic and statutory planning, waste management, land contamination, water law, heritage law and related administrative law and governance. We guide our clients through complex planning and environment matters and are experienced with managing cases involving lengthy hearings before VCAT and legal challenges in the Supreme Court.

At Russell Kennedy, many of our lawyers have multi-disciplinary qualifications in town planning, environmental engineering, geography and natural resource management. We’re regular contributors to key industry and stakeholder groups in the areas of planning, environment, contamination, resource management and water law.

Andrew Sherman, Ian Pridgeon, Stefan Fiedler and Matthew Beazley are all recognised in the 2020 Best Lawyers in Australia list for Planning & Environment Law and Land Use & Zoning Law.

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Amendment VC286 - What happens to existing liquor licence permissions?

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On 1 July 2025, Amendment VC286 removed clause 52.27 – Licensed Premises from the Victoria Planning Provisions thereby removing the requirement to obtain a planning permit for the sale and consu ...

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Deletion of Clause 52.27 Licensed Premises from 1 July

27 Jun 2025

From 1 July 2025, licensed premises will no longer require a planning permit. The licensed premises provisions (clause 52.27 and other related provisions) are being removed from all planning schemes i ...

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How green is your project? – Environmentally Sustainable Procurement Policy set to commence in July 2024

15 May 2024

The Australian Government has released the Environmentally Sustainable Procurement Policy (ESP Policy). It will government procurement to promote circular economy principles and deliver on Target 4 of ...

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