Section 173 Agreements

It is important that landowners (and their representatives) know whether or not a Section 173 Agreement affects their property, and if so, they understand their obligations under the agreement.

Independent legal advice may need to be sought to gain a full understanding of the Section 173 Agreement.

This template Section 173 Agreement Standard Template is for applicants whom have been required to enter into a Section 173 agreement. The template is for simple matters only, more complex agreements should not be produced on this template, instead be drafted by a solicitor for that particular matter.

The following requirements are set out by the Title Registration Service and should be forwarded to your solicitor to assist in the preparation of the agreement.

• Attachments must not be included with Agreements. If a reference must be made to a particular plan or permit, simply refer to its reference number, rather than attaching a copy of the document.
• In some cases, it may be appropriate to attach a diagram or plan. This should be done where only part of the land in a title is affected by the Agreement and the diagram or plan assists in defining the affected part.
• Any essential attachment must be referred to in the body of the agreement.
• Images should meet the following requirements:
  • Resolution must be set to a minimum of 300 dpi for satisfactory image quality.
  • All plan and survey documents must be produced in black and white in accordance with current practice. Colour and greyscale are not acceptable. Any colour and greyscale PDFs will be converted to black and white by Land Use Victoria which will result in a loss of quality.
  • All pages of the PDF file must be orientated to appear upright when viewed on screen. This will ensure watermarks are applied correctly. A landscape sheet must not appear in portrait orientation (rotated 90 degrees).

We request your solicitors forward a draft Microsoft Word copy of the agreement to latrobe@latrobe.vic.gov.au to ensure that all requirements set by the planning permit conditions have been included.

Confirmation that the agreement is suitable to process will be directed to your solicitor.

Your solicitor will need to email a final agreement as a Microsoft Word document including all relevant attachments as PDFs to latrobe@latrobe.vic.gov.au for processing.

The agreement will be emailed to your solicitor for you to sign before being signed by Councils delegate.

A copy of the agreement will be sent back to your solicitor for them to lodge the Agreement with the Title Registration Service.

Please note: Latrobe City Council reserves the right to have any agreement reviewed by our lawyers and any costs to be passed onto the applicant or person seeking the agreement.

You will need:

• Cover Letter which includes:
• Written statement outlining the reasons for the request 
• If the proposal is to amend the agreement, the part of the agreement to be amended;
• Any change in circumstances that necessitates the request
• A company search:
  • if the subject land is owned by a company, a company search must be submitted with the application to confirm the correct ownership details. The company search must not be older than 3 months from the lodgment date.
• Copy of Title and any restrictions (produced in the last 60 days)
• Any plans that may assist in understanding and supporting your request
• Planning Fee

Other information may be requested by Council if it is considered necessary to assess the request.

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On receipt of your request the following will generally occur:

• An initial review of your request will be conducted to determine if all application requirements are met;
• When all application requirements are met your request will be allocated to a Planner and you will receive an acknowledgement letter with contact details of the Planner;
• An initial review of the request will be undertaken and if needed the request will be referred to relevant internal and external authorities;
• A request for additional information may be requested at this stage;
• Council will notify you in writing indicating whether they application has ‘in - principle support’
• If ‘in-principle support’ is provided your request will be notified to interested parties, if applicable;
• Following the notification period Council Planning Officers will write a report with their recommendation to either support or refuse your request;
• If approval is issued, a signed letter and Form 19 will be issued.

In the event that Council refuses the proposal, the applicant can appeal the decision to the VCAT. 

In the event that Council supports the proposal, any objectors can appeal the decision to the VCAT.

For more details, visit the VCAT Website.

It is the applicant’s responsibility to take the required documentation (Form 19) to the Land Titles Office for registration.

The proposal (amended or ended agreement) must be registered on title in accordance with the requirements of the Planning and Environment Act 1987.

 Any costs associated with the registration of the agreement are entirely the responsibility of the applicant.