By Clarke Towson – CEO, INTJ Billing / Spotswood Trailers
Published: 2nd August 2025
The Victorian planning system is often misunderstood — even by those working within it. One of the most critical facts I suspect that state and local authorities are now slowly coming to terms with is this:
This isn’t a loophole. It’s Planning Law 101.
Under the Planning and Environment Act 1987 (Vic) and the Ministerial Directions for Planning Scheme Amendments, any proposed zoning change for private freehold land must involve a process of:
Without the written consent or passive allowance of the landowner, a rezoning cannot be cleanly executed — particularly where the proposed new zone would reduce land value, introduce prohibitions, or alter the permissible use.
In this case, my mother owns the land. She is the current registered freehold titleholder, as shown on Instrument H323270 and her title document. This instrument records the lawful transfer of ownership from the Zanchelli family to my mother following their private ownership of the land from 1978 to 1992. The Zanchelli family had acquired the land after the Executive Council formally discontinued Cullen Street in 1978, triggering the transfer of the land from Crown ownership into private hands.
This means:
No rezoning can occur unless she agrees. In writing.
The current TRZ2 (Transport Zone 2) zoning was applied without her consent, without the consent of the previous owners of the property (1978-1992) (Arturo Zanchelli, Carmella Zanchelli and Maria Libera Zanchelli and without Ministerial authority, given the absence of any Crown interest in the land.
To correct the zoning, or change it to anything else, the Department of Transport must:
They can’t simply force a change. They must now negotiate with the rightful owner — and that owner will refuse any rezoning that diminishes the value, use or autonomy of the land.
Government departments — especially planning and transport — are used to acting with institutional force over land. But in this case, they zoned private land without authority, and now they need permission from a single elderly woman to fix their own error.
They assumed she was a passive landowner. They were wrong because I am her son and it was I who discovered the TRZ2 zoning is ultra vires and I worded her up about the entire situation.
They now face a scenario where the most powerful move left in the game — rezoning — is blocked by a woman who won’t budge unless it's in her and her families best interests to budge.
This situation exposes a governance flaw in Victoria’s zoning system:
The Department of Transport and Council have discovered this the hard way.
Rezoning 7 Cullen Court is no longer an administrative matter. It’s a matter of private legal consent — and that consent will never be given for any zoning that undermines the lawful transport-aligned use we’ve established. It will however be given if The Department of Transport and The Hobsons Bay Council propose implementing a zoning which is in my mothers best interest, my best interest and the best interests of the State.
So long as my mother owns the land — and so long as she stands firm —
This zoning error remains permanently locked in place.
My mother however is a reasonable woman and she takes advice from me. All offers of rezoning will be thoroughly researched and I will advise her if the offer is in her, her family, the Hobsons Bay Council and the State of Victorias best interests.
The bottom line is this: I am committed to bring the zoning of the property under the preserve of The Hobsons Bay Council where it belongs. This will bring proper governance to the land and remove the current regulatory vacuum.
This land — like the black swan — is the unexpected exception that exposes the flaws of a planning system built on assumptions. What was once considered an ordinary zoning decision has become a case study in how private rights can disrupt bureaucratic inertia.