HIA Executive Director Victoria Keith Ryan said the issue demonstrates that while the Victorian Government has focused heavily on changing planning rules and streamlining planning pathways, it continues to ignore the wider network of approvals and infrastructure requirements that often create the greatest delays and uncertainty for major projects.

"The revelation that critical electricity and water utility considerations appear not to have been properly integrated into the planning process is reminder of a problem that industry has been raising for years," Mr Ryan said.

"The Government continues to present planning reform as the solution to project delays, but planning approval under the Planning and Environment Act is only one step in a much larger and more complex approval process.

"For housing and indeed all construction projects, proponents must navigate a range of approvals involving utilities, servicing authorities, heritage, environmental regulators and other government agencies. These processes remain fragmented and poorly coordinated, creating unnecessary delays and uncertainty.”

Mr Ryan said the housing industry supports efforts to improve planning efficiency but warned that planning reforms in isolation will not deliver faster project outcomes while significant bottlenecks remain elsewhere in the approval system.

"Changing planning rules may help projects obtain one permit more quickly, but if power, water, sewerage, transport and other servicing requirements are not aligned and resolved at the same time, delays simply reappear later in the process.

"The experience emerging from the Fishermans Bend data centre proposal reinforces what the property and construction industry has been saying for some time: Victoria needs a whole-of-government approvals reform agenda, not just planning reform.

"Whether it is a major data centre, a new housing estate or an apartment development, project proponents need certainty and improvements for all approvals," Mr Ryan said.

HIA is calling on the next Victorian Government to work with industry, utilities and regulators to establish a more coordinated approvals framework that ensures critical servicing and infrastructure considerations are addressed early and transparently during project assessment.

"Victoria's economic growth, housing supply and investment competitiveness depend on governments addressing all approval blockages, not simply those that sit officially within the planning system," concluded Mr Ryan.

For more information please contact: