Car parking for venues

Who it's for

A car parking reduction planning permit lets a restaurant, café or bar provide fewer car spaces than the planning scheme would otherwise require. This page is for venues where the site can't provide the parking the scheme sets.

• You're opening in a shopping strip with few or no car spaces
• The site was a shop or office and you want to make it a venue
• You're adding floor area or seats
• Council has told you the venue is short of car parking

Not you? If parking is only one part of opening, start with a planning permit for a new venue.

How car parking rules work for venues

Clause 52.06 of the planning scheme sets the car parking a use needs. A restaurant can need more under the scheme than the shop it replaces, so a change of use can create a "shortfall": the gap between what the scheme asks for and what the site has.

That shortfall can matter even where the use itself doesn't need a permit. Clause 52.06 applies when a new use starts or floor area increases, and if you can't provide the spaces, you need a permit to reduce them. So we check parking with the zone before you sign a lease. Our site check before you sign covers it.

Car parking waiver for a café: what council looks at

A reduction, sometimes called a waiver or dispensation, asks council to accept fewer spaces than the scheme sets, sometimes none. Council weighs the parking your venue is likely to need against what's available, looking at things like public transport nearby, trips where people visit several places at once, nearby car parks, shared use of spaces and reliance on street parking. A neighbourhood café serving people who walk in is a different case from a large late-night venue. The application has to show that with evidence.

Car parking conditions on an existing permit

Car parking conditions on an existing permit continue to bind, even where old liquor conditions on the same permit may not. To change one, see change your planning permit.

Check parking before you sign. A shortfall can mean a permit application even where the use itself is allowed.

How it works

Most car parking reductions follow four steps.

1. 15-minute call Send us the address and your plans. We fix the fee.
2. We work out the shortfall What the scheme asks for, what the site has, and the gap.
3. We prepare the application With the planning drawings and evidence council needs. You sign off before it's lodged.
4. We deal with council Information requests and objections, through to a decision.

Fees and timing

Our fee is fixed and quoted before we start. Council's time depends on information requests and notice.

Our fee

Fixed fee, quoted before we start

Traffic report

Paid separately, if council needs one

Standard application

60 statutory days. The clock pauses for further information and notice.

VicSmart

10 business days, for a reduction of no more than 10 spaces

What we need from you

To work out the parking, we'll ask for:

• The address and the use you want
• A floor plan showing seats and floor area
• Your hours and staff numbers
• Any existing permit, and how many spaces the site has

Questions