Civic worked with the owner of a landmark CBD site, for three years to secure approval for its proposal to replace the 60m building with a 130m tower – 100 metres higher than the preferred maximum height for the site.

With approval unlikely to be obtained through a standard planning process, a communications and government relations strategy was developed and implemented to generate support among stakeholders, decision-makers and influencers to best position the project to secure planning approval.

A collaborative design process that would consider the project in its broader strategic context – as opposed to the narrow parameters of the site’s planning controls – was proposed to the council and state government planning department. A Victorian-first, the planning process led to approval of a 130m mixed-use redevelopment being granted for the site by the Minister for Planning with the amendment gazetted in 2021.

Civic steered one of Melbourne’s largest precinct structure plans from development through to approval.

Part of this work involved defending the precinct structure plan (PSP) from a neighbouring competing land use, that if approved would have made elements of the client’s project unviable.

A key member of the project team, Civic worked closely with the developers, planners and lawyers to ensure an integrated approach from the outset. A strategic communications and government relations program was implemented to build support for the PSP at each level of government, including among political stakeholders and decision-makers.

Targeted community engagement helped manage local interest in the project. Civic’s comprehensive engagement approach, coupled with our ability to navigate the complex political and policy landscape ultimately secured the approval of the PSP.

For more than 10 years, Civic has provided strategic advice and communications support and services to one of the nation’s most prominent developers of inner-city apartment and office towers, residential and industrial estates.

Civic provides communications and engagement services to support the lodgement of a planning permit application through to the public launch of a completed project – and at every milestone along the way. These projects have ranged from high-end offices on Melbourne’s Chapel Street to broadacre developments in regional Victoria and South-East Queensland.

Once a project is approved, Civic designs and implements tailored public relations and content strategies to generate leads and drive sales for each project. This work often includes securing widespread media coverage including project profile stories, market commentary-based pieces and interviews with the developer’s management and leasing agents.

Civic developed and implemented an advocacy campaign to support the relocation of a livestock saleyard in regional Victoria.

Population growth meant that the ageing saleyard was located in an increasingly urban area, but the proposed relocation was being opposed by residents near the new site and there was a genuine risk that, in the face of local opposition, council would not grant planning approval.

Using a mix of digital, social and traditional tactics, Civic delivered a campaign that allowed residents in support of the move to voice their opinion and bring balance to the local debate.

A successful outcome was reached with council granting planning approval for the relocation.