Am I Operating Illegally?
Received a Planning Infringement Notice? Here's What to Do in the Next 48 Hours
You opened an envelope — or an email — and now your stomach's in your shoes.
Here's exactly what's happening: a planning infringement notice means a Victorian council believes your commercial or industrial site is breaching a planning control — the current use doesn't match what's permitted, or a permit condition isn't being met. It's a formal notice, not a fine, and it is very rarely the end of your business.
Here's the part that matters more: it starts a process, and every hour you sit on it, your options are quietly narrowing. What you do in the next 48 hours decides whether this becomes a manageable fix or an expensive mess.
Let's get you clear, fast.
What council is actually telling you
Strip away the legal language and an infringement notice says one thing: council believes your business is breaching the Planning and Environment Act. For commercial and industrial operators across Melbourne and regional Victoria, it's almost always one of three situations:
Your use has changed — a warehouse now runs a showroom, a takeaway now serves dine-in — and the permit never caught up
Your zone flat-out doesn't allow what you're doing, permit or not
You've got a permit, but you've drifted from its conditions — hours, parking, signage, whatever it is
One of those three is your situation. Which one determines everything that happens next.
A pattern we see often: an operator takes over a warehouse lease, starts trading as a showroom because that's what the space was clearly built for, and never checks that the industrial permit actually allows retail use. Six months in, a complaint or a routine inspection surfaces the mismatch — and suddenly a business that was never trying to break any rules is dealing with an infringement notice. It's rarely deliberate. It's almost always a gap nobody thought to check.
Do these three things today — not this week
Read the notice in full. Every infringement notice names a specific section of the Planning and Environment Act and a specific alleged breach. Confirm exactly what's being alleged before doing anything else — not what you assume it says.
Locate the site's actual permit conditions. Many operators inherit a lease or business without ever seeing the original permit. Council's public register holds a copy if you don't have one — pull it before you respond to anyone.
Confirm what the zone permits. Victoria's planning scheme sets out, zone by zone — C1Z, C2Z, IN1Z, IN2Z, IN3Z — what's permitted outright, what needs a permit, and what's prohibited. This is usually where the real answer sits.
Can this be fixed? Usually — but "usually" isn't good enough when it's your business
Yes, in most cases — either through a retrospective planning permit application, or, where the zone genuinely won't allow the use at all, a different application pathway entirely. Council can generally consider a retrospective permit for a use that's already operating, provided that use isn't outright prohibited in that zone.
This is rarely a "shut the doors tomorrow" situation. It is almost always a "the earlier you move, the more control you keep" situation — councils generally respond better to an application already in motion than to one prompted by their own enforcement letter.
And if you sit on it?
Nothing good. Councils don't lose interest — they escalate. That can mean an order to stop the use immediately while the matter is resolved, referral for prosecution, and penalties that increase the longer the breach continues. And that's before your landlord, your insurer, or your lender find out the site isn't compliant — any one of which can unravel more than the planning issue on its own.
Here's what to do right now
Don't guess. Don't Google your way into false confidence. Don't wait for council's timeline to force your hand.
Get a Pulse Check. Eland Town Planning works exclusively with commercial and industrial operators across Melbourne and Victoria, built on 10+ years working inside council planning departments — which means we know exactly what council is looking for before you respond, not after. A Pulse Check is a fast, sharp read on exactly where you stand — what the notice really means for your specific site, and what your real options are — so you're making your next move from a position of clarity, not panic. The businesses that come out of this cleanly are the ones who moved in the first 48 hours, not the ones who waited to see what happened.
The clock's already running. Start yours.
FAQ
What is a planning infringement notice in Victoria? It's a formal notice from a Victorian council stating it believes a commercial or industrial property is breaching the Planning and Environment Act — usually a use, condition, or permit mismatch. It is not a fine and not a criminal charge, but it does require a timely response.
Is a planning infringement notice the same as being fined? No — it's a formal notice that a breach is alleged. Fines and further enforcement action can follow if it isn't addressed, but the notice itself isn't a fine.
Can I keep operating while I sort this out? Often yes, in the short term, but this depends heavily on what the notice alleges and how council responds. This is exactly the kind of judgement call that needs a proper read of your specific circumstances rather than a general answer.
How fast do I need to respond? Notices will specify a timeframe. Regardless of the stated deadline, starting the process immediately gives you the most options — delay is what narrows them.
