Swan Street Structure Plan

Swan Street Council has deferred consideration of the Swan Street Structure Plan to allow further detailed work to be undertaken on it.

A draft plan is expected to be considered by Council in the first half of 2013.

People who have previously made submissions on this matter will be given notice on when a meeting is scheduled to consider the draft plan.

Background

In mid-2012, Council sought community submissions about a revised draft Swan Street Structure Plan.

The three key issues raised in the submissions were:

car parking and traffic generation
the nominated preferred building heights and the land uses designated for different parts of the study area
urban intensification.

To find out more about the issues raised in the submissions, please see the Council officers report from Page 20 of the agenda for the 6 August 2012 Council meeting.

At that Council meeting, Council resolved to note the submissions and Council's previous decision in July 2012 to defer consideration of the Structure Plan while it seeks the Minister for Planning's participation in a public meeting to discuss local planning issues. More information on the public meeting request is available in this media release.

Here is more information about:

The revised draft Swan Street Structure Plan
Previous work on developing a draft Swan Street Struture Plan

The revised draft Swan Street Structure Plan

The revised draft Structure Plan incorporates several changes from the draft that was released for community feedback in September 2011.

In summary, these changes include:

A stronger focus on the eleven character precincts located within the study area to convey the contribution each precinct would make to the overall vision for Swan Street
A set of good urban design principals to guide outcomes for things like building setbacks, active street frontages and the interface with adjoining residential areas
Revised heights are proposed for some locations within the study area:
- Proposed maximum building heights of 7-10 storeys around Richmond Station, part of South Cremorne, and Burnley Station.
- Proposed maximum building heights of 5-6 storeys in the area south of Swan Street (excluding the Burnley Station precinct), the area to the north west of Swan and Burnley streets (extending north to Newry Street) and in the area north of Barkly Avenue.
A Built Form Rationale Plan that uses maps to illustrate why some areas which are located near public transport, services and facilities would be suitable for more dense redevelopment, and
Revised Built Form Guidelines that provide guidance on future built form and how that would be in keeping with the longer term vision for Swan Street and surrounds.

Here is a factsheet about the revised Draft Structure Plan: pdf format Draft Swan Street Structure Plan factsheet (1.68 MB)

Here is a pdf version of the revised Draft Structure Plan. The plan has been broken up into sections due to its large file size.

Previous work on developing a draft Swan Street Structure Plan

Public consultation on an earlier version of the draft plan took place during May and June 2011. Following community consultation, Council officers recommended that several changes be made to the draft plan before it was adopted. These changes would have increased the preferred heights of new buildings in the area from what was in the draft plan. Here is a report by Council officers (31.94kB) and the Proposed changes to the draft Swan Street Structure Plan.pdf (25.32kB).

Several residents expressed opposition to the proposed changes in preferred building heights. At its September 2011 meeting, Council resolved to defer adopting a plan "pending further discussions about community consultation, options for achieving strategic rationales for appropriate heights, and clarification around housing targets from the Department of Community Planning and Development".

Issues Paper

At the start of the process of forming a proposed Structure Plan, Council sought community feedback on an Issues Paper. Feedback was sought in October 2010. Council received several submissions from the community which were used to assist Council officers in preparing a draft Structure Plan. Here is the pdf format Issues Paper - Swan Street Structure Plan (1.21MB)

Further information
Janet Keily
Senior Strategic Planner
9205 5027
janet.keily@yarracity.vic.gov.au