Reduced to its core, the proposed amendment - if approved by the Victorian government - would import a series of environmentally sustainable minimum standards into the planning instrument.

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These same standards would then lend council the authority it requires to refuse housing and commercial building applications that do not, for instance, prioritise renewable energy, insulation or storm water recycling in their designs, or which lack obvious links to sustainable transport or otherwise fail to balance the risk of urban heating with green infrastructure.

On any view, the unanimity of the vote was a powerful statement of the seriousness with which council now views the threat posed by global warming to the health, sustainability and wellbeing of the community.

Councillor Belinda Coates, who moved the motion, said the move was "long overdue".

"[As a council] we have high aspirations to lead the community to net-zero by 2030, and we've also acknowledged the climate emergency," she said. "But we're not going to get to net-zero if we don't engage the whole community - if we don't bring developers, big and small, with us."

"[Urban] planning is one of the key mechanisms through which we can, as a council, reduce our environmental footprint and improve the liveability of our communities."

It was a sentiment shared by Cr Mark Harris, who said the change would rank among the most significant environmental achievements of council.

"This is a body of work that council must do and it will result in actual change," he said, adding that it was "probably what [council] should be judged on" in terms of assessing its commitment to a sustainable future.

"This is council doing its best work."

The motion was borne of a joint initiative led by the Municipal Association of Victoria and involving 30 other local councils across the state.

City of Ballarat chief executive Evan King had earlier told The Courier that the planning amendment would remove the disconnect underlying council's climate policies and what commonly occurs within the sphere of private development.

"Environmental sustainability is clearly a high priority for council," he said, referencing various strategic plans, including the carbon neutrality plan, the emerging zero emissions plan and the circular economy framework.

"But unless [the amendment] is adopted and unless it is in the planning scheme, we have very little capability to drive environmentally sustainable design in infrastructure or housing around Ballarat."

The proposed amendment awaits the approval of the Victorian government.

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