MAV Rural and Regional Planning Conference Damien Kennedy, Director, Regional Victoria Victorian Planning Authority 31 May 2019 Your partner in planning great places for a growing Victoria VPA working with partners to deliver strategic planning projects
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VPA working with partners to deliver strategic planning ...
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4. Define realistic project timeline and milestones
5. Determine the resources required to deliver
6. Know what product/s you intend to deliver
Discuss your proposal early
• Begin discussions with the grant program operators as soon as possible – even before a grant program opens
• Ask questions about the purpose of the grant program
• Test your ideas for a project to see whether it is likely to fit the program objectives
• Arrange a meeting to discuss your project idea
• The VPA can assist applicants to develop their projects and identify the best way to deliver them
• Projects may be able to be delivered by a grant only or a combination of grant and VPA or other resources
Align program and project objectives
• Address the program objectives and make sure your project purpose and objectives are aligned
• Criteria for meeting the program objectives need to be satisfied
• For example, the Streamlining for Growth program has the following aims:
• build council capacity through grants and assistance
• ensure a land supply pipeline to facilitate regional growth
• implement Regional Growth Plans
• undertake master planning for strategic sites
• If you’re uncertain speak with the funding provider – the VPA in the case of Streamlining applications.
• VPA on-line application process includes a series of questions including how your application meets the program objectives.
Align program and project objectives
Get the project scope right
• A well defined project scope crucial to gaining funding approval and delivery of the project
• Determine what is in and out of scope
• Unclear scope will impact on funding, timing, resources & stakeholders
• Project with poor scope will soon get behind schedule and jeopardise achieving the outcomes sought
• Accurately estimating project timing, engagement requirements and approval steps are common problems
• Think carefully about project governance – e.g. how do I brief councillors, role of steering and technical working committees, how often they should meet etc.
Define realistic project timeline and milestones
• Think carefully about how long a project will take and map out a realistic project timeline and milestones
• Timing needs to take into account issues such as obtaining resources, procurement and the approval process
• Look for agile processes to get sign off if you are aiming to deliver a project within tight deadlines e.g. out of session briefings, verbal briefings, etc.
• Typically, a fund such as Streamlining for Growth provides for a project to be delivered within a single financial year. If you think a project will take longer, and that additional funding could be procured from the same or another source you could break it into stages
• Identify key project milestones and stick to them
Determine the resources required to deliver
• Think about the resources you have available within your organisation and externally to undertake the project
• This needs to be considered as part of the scoping.
• Grant applications typically ask how much funding is required and what other resources will be contributed towards a project e.g. council in-kind, third party funding
• Governments are operating in a more fiscally challenging environment so it is important to make your application competitive. Ambit claims for large grants are rarely successful so be realistic.
• If you under estimate the resources required the project will be in jeopardy.
• It’s good practice to discuss resourcing with the funding provider such as VPA to work out what is needed to deliver the project.
• For projects that will facilitate development, seek third party funding opportunities from landowners and developers.
Know what product/s you intend to deliver
• Be clear about the product you want to deliver with grant funding when you make your application
• Talk to DELWP or VPA about the planning tools that are available to achieve the strategic outcome you want
• Consider established tools in the standard suite of zones, overlays and particular provisions
• A PSP may not be the solution – this product was originally created for high growth areas in Melbourne’s outer suburbs. In regional Victoria it may require a different approach such as a Development Plan.
• If you are still unsure of the best solution and its requires further discussion this can be mentioned in your application.