The government announced the first 25 centres in October 2024, which included stations that will benefit from the Metro Tunnel and the well-serviced Frankston, Sandringham, Lilydale, Alamein and Glen Waverley Lines.
A further 25 centres were recently announced, including stations along well-serviced train and tram corridors.
Most of these areas are already built up; however, there are pockets of under-zoned land along well-serviced train and tram lines. The new planning controls will help deliver more than 300,000 additional homes close to jobs, services, and transport by 2051.
The Victorian Government proposes to fast-track the structure planning process to support the ‘Train and Tram Zone’ Activity Centres from the standard 5 years down to 12 months, with structure plans for all 50 new centres completed by 2026.
The new controls will encourage more homes around Melbourne’s high-frequency train lines and busy tram corridors – something Ratio Consultants and others in the industry have been championing for years.
The government is also considering new controls to support more homes for young people in and around the Melbourne CBD. To deliver these, the government will collaborate with councils as part of two ‘city-wide’ activity centres in Inner City (Yarra) and Inner City (City of Melbourne).
This will differ from the standard activity centre process. It will involve detailed identification and mapping to consider upzoning strategic sites, using newly developed planning controls, and fast-tracking specific site developments.
The 50 centres are located along the eastern and south-eastern corridors and intend to facilitate increased densities within Melbourne’s inner suburbs. This appears consistent with the government’s intent for 70% of the housing target to be provided within established areas.
The new ‘Train and Tram Zone’ will progress to community consultation in April 2025.
A full list of the 50 ‘Train and Tram Zone’ Activity Centres are listed below:
Latest 25 Train and Tram Zone Activity Centres:
- Caulfield Station
- Springvale Station
- Noble Park Station
- Yarraman Station
- Dandenong Station
- Glen Huntly Station
- Ormond Station
- Bentleigh Station
- Mentone Station
- South Yarra Station
- Prahran Station
- Windsor Station
- Elsternwick Station
- Ashburton Station
- Riversdale & Willison Stations
- East Malvern Station
- Holmesglen Station
- Coburg Station
- Brunswick Station
- Heidelberg Station
- High St, Thornbury (tram corridor)
- St Georges Rd (tram corridor)
- Kew Junction (tram corridor)
- Inner City (City of Melbourne)
- Inner City (Yarra)
First 25 Train and Tram Zone Activity Centres:
- Carnegie
- Hughesdale
- Murrumbeena
- Oakleigh
- Middle Footscray
- West Footscray
- Tottenham
- Hawthorn
- Glenferrie
- Auburn
- Blackburn
- Nunawading
- Mitcham
- Toorak
- Hawksburn
- Armadale
- Malvern
- North Brighton
- Middle Brighton
- Hampton
- Sandringham
- Tooronga
- Darling
- A combined centre covering both Gardiner and Glen Iris Stations
- Toorak Village
In Case You Missed It – Week in Review
It has been a big week for planning news. In summary:
- Revised housing targets and scaling back of ‘catchment areas’ in the 10 Pilot Activity Centres announced (Broadmeadows, Camberwell Junction, Chadstone, Epping, Frankston, Moorabbin, Niddrie, North Essendon, Preston (High Street), Ringwood). This includes decreasing the boundaries of the ‘catchment areas’ and splitting these areas into ‘inner catchment’ and ‘outer catchment’. Inner catchment areas will facilitate development up to 4-storeys and outer catchments 3-storeys. If the proposal qualifies as a large site (1,000 sqm site area with 20-metre frontage width), development of up to 6 storeys in inner catchments and 4 storeys in outer catchments may be achieved.
- Amendment VC257 gazetted into all Victorian Planning Schemes to set up the planning tools to enable increased densities in and around activity centres. This includes a new residential zone at Clause 32.10 (Housing Choice and Transport Zone) and a new overlay at Clause 43.06 (Built Form Overlay). The finalised activity centre plans and new controls for the 10 Pilot Activity Centres are anticipated to be gazetted into the relevant Planning Schemes within the next four weeks.
- New ResCode announced to fast-track development application for townhouses and low-rise development and 4-storey apartments. Clause 55 will be overhauled and renamed to the ‘Townhouse and Low-Rise Code’’. This will enable developments that are “deemed to comply” to receive automatic approval with no third-party review rights. A new Clause 57 will be introduced to assess 4-storey apartments. At this stage, no changes are proposed for Clause 56 (Residential Subdivision) or Clause 58 (Apartment Developments 5+ storeys). The new ResCode standards are anticipated to be gazetted into all Planning Schemes in early March 2025.
The Victorian Government also launched the highly anticipated Plan for Victoria earlier today. More to come on that next week.
Subscribe to the Ratio newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn to keep informed on all upcoming planning news.
