Overview
The Victorian Government has begun releasing a new round of plans for housing developments in close proximity to train and tram stations. 60 so-called 'activity centres' remain at the centre of attention for future developments as high as 20 storeys, expanding on the previously announced plan to build over 300,000 homes near public transport hotspots by 2051.
Marking transport stations as the centre point, the proposals for ten suburbs have been released this morning. Specifically, Caulfield, Prahran, South Yarra, Windsor, Malvern, Springvale, Glen Huntly, Mitcham, Noble Park and Armadale have had proposed maps (which you can review on the Department of Planning and Transport website) organising them as activity centres.
Carmen Zammit
Each proposed map follows a basic structure that determines exactly how dense the housing can be in each area. The highest will be inside the core, which varies per suburb, while the surrounding 'inner catchment', an area defined by being a five-minute walk from the core (the local train or tram station) will be a limit of four storeys (six on larger sites), while the 'outer catchment' is an area within a ten-minute walk that is capped at four storeys on large sites — large sites in this context being blocks bigger than 1000 square metres.
The core heights are where things get really dense. Caulfield is the highest of them all, with two sites marked with a limit of 20 storeys. Prahran, South Yarra, Malvern and Springvale have limits of 16 storeys, while Noble Park, Mitcham, Glen Huntly and Windsor go as high as 12 storeys, and Armadale comes in at a ceiling of ten storeys.
Before you panic or celebrate, these maps are not final and are now open to community consultation. The first ten maps of the plan, released in 2025, predictably received mixed responses (numbering in the thousands, according to The Age). Those suburbs were Broadmeadows, Camberwell Junction, Chadstone, Epping, Frankston, Moorabbin, Ringwood, Preston and a joint development in Niddrie and North Essendon.
The Victorian branch of the Urban Development Institute of Australia said at the time that apartments are "extremely difficult" to build in Melbourne, and there's no guarantee that these high-density apartments actually tackle the cost problem.
When asked by the ABC if a percentage of the proposed homes would be social or affordable, Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny spoke of "other pathways" that "require affordable homes as part of development."
Minister Kilkenny added, "It's about offering choice and diversity and we know [that] for so long many of these locations have been locked up to young Victorians." The new proposals will undergo community consultation in the next two months and are expected to be finalised mid-year.
For more information on the proposed developments, visit the Department of Planning and Transport website.
Lead Image: Adam Calaitzis Photography