The Minister for Planning has referred the Amendment and submissions to the Yarra Activity Centre Standing Advisory Committee (SAC).
Receipt of Standing Advisory Committee Report
The Minister for Planning has referred the Amendment C273yara, submissions and all documents related to the Amendment to the Yarra Activity Centre Standing Advisory Committee (the Committee). A hearing was held on Monday 14 October 2024 and concluded on Friday 18 October 2024
The Yarra Activity Centre Standing Advisory Committee (SAC) has prepared the following reports following the hearing for draft Amendment C273yara.
- Report 1 (Version 2) – Overarching report [ PDF, 812.78 KB]
- Report 4 – Draft Amendment C273yara [ PDF, 4.3 MB]
Report 4 outlines the discussion had at the hearing and the conclusions and recommendations of the SAC. Report 4 must be read with the Yarra Activity Centres Standing Advisory Committee Report 1 (Version 2) – Overarching Report.
You can find more information on Yarra’s Advisory Committee Process and Amendments webpage or Planning Panel’s Victoria website and on the Yarra Standing Advisory Committee - Information Sheet [ PDF, 295.23 KB] .
What stage is this amendment at and what are the next steps?
There are six stages in the draft amendment process.
We are currently at Stage 5 of the process: Standing Advisory Committee Report.
The Yarra Activity Centres Standing Advisory Committee have prepared a report following the Hearing and provides recommendations.
A council report from officers will be presented to Council in the first half of 2025 to consider the recommendations of the Committee and determine Council’s preferred position on the Amendment it wishes to refer to the Minister for Planning.
Community and stakeholders are able to attend the council meeting and are able to present their views to Council.
Following the Council Meeting if Council chose to refer the draft Amendment, Council’s preferred position on the Amendment would be sent to the Minister for Planning. This will be considered by the Minister for Planning when they determine to approve the Amendment.
Council's Preferred Version of DDO18
This is the preferred version of Design and Development Overlay 18 (DDO18) that Council will bring to the Standing Advisory Committee, as adopted by Council on the 12 December 2023.
Council's Expert Witness Statements
Yarra City Council is proposing to introduce permanent built form and design requirements for commercial areas along Heidelberg Road which passes through Alphington and Fairfield.
This refers to land within the Commercial 1 and 2 Zone along the south side of Heidelberg Road within Yarra.
These changes will help guide potential future development, ensure development responds to heritage fabric, and minimises impacts on sensitive interfaces such as backyards, and public spaces like footpaths, kerb outstands and parklands.
The permanent built form and design requirements will be introduced through an amendment to the Yarra Planning Scheme known as draft Amendment C273yara.
The draft amendment also proposes to apply the Heritage Overlay (HO) to several properties and delete the Heritage Overlay from one property.
Land Affected by proposed draft DDO18
The maps below show the land to be included in the Design and Development Overlay.
Map 1: Building and Street Wall Heights for Precinct 1
Map 2: Building and Street Wall Heights for Precinct 2
Map 3A: Building and Street Wall Heights for Precinct 3A
Map 3B: Building and Street Wall Heights for Precinct 3B
What are the proposed changes to the planning scheme?
The draft amendment proposes to:
- Include new policy at Clause 11.03-1L Activity Centres to provide general directions for the Heidelberg Road Neighbourhood Activity Centre.
- Replace the interim Design and Development Overlay Schedule 18 (interim DDO18) with a permanent Design and Development Overlay Schedule 18 (DDO18) which applies to commercially zoned land along Heidelberg Road.
- Apply new Heritage Overlays (HOs) to the properties at 730-734 Heidelberg Road, Alphington (HO451) and 760-764 Heidelberg Road, Alphington (HO455).
- Delete the Heritage Overlay (HO362) from the property at 2 Killop Street, Alphington.
- Amend the Schedule to Clause 43.01 Heritage Overlay to include the new HOs.
- Amend the Schedule to Clause 72.04 Incorporated Documents to include new Statements of Significance and update the “City of Yarra Database of Heritage Significant Areas”.
- Amend the Schedule to Clause 72.08 Background Documents to introduce the background documents that informed the permanent DDO18.
The draft amendment does not include changes to policy or planning controls for residential zoned land nor the approved Alphington Paper Mill Development Plan.
View the draft amendment documents below.
What is the amendment trying to achieve?
The proposed draft Design and Development Overlay – Schedule 18 (DDO18) aims to provide a balanced approach by guiding different levels of potential development across the Heidelberg Road Precincts.
A Design and Development Overlay (DDO) is the planning tool that is applied to areas to set built form and design requirements for new development. If you want to know more about how a DDO works in general, see the General Design and Development Overlay (DDO) Information Sheet [ PDF, 1.18 MB] .
DDO18 specifically aims to ensure that new buildings will respond to heritage fabric and minimises impacts on sensitive interfaces such as backyards, and public spaces like footpaths, kerb outstands and parklands.
It also aims to ensure that development delivers improved landscaping, openness and pedestrian amenity along Heidelberg Road.
Proposed draft DDO18 applies to 3 Precincts (Precinct 3 is split into two sub-precincts) along the south side of Heidelberg Road:
Precinct 1 – Commercial 1 zoned land that is immediately adjacent to large parklands which front the Yarra River. It includes the Porta site and its large heritage industrial warehouse and distinctive brick chimney.
Precinct 2 – Commercial 2 zoned land in relatively close proximity to the Fairfield Neighbourhood Activity Centre. The areas to the immediate south are in the Neighbourhood Residential Zone.
Precinct 3A – A single large site to the west of the former Alphington Paper Mill site on the corner of Chandler Highway and Heidelberg Road. The site is zoned Commercial 1 and has a direct interface with Neighbourhood Residential zoned areas to the west and south.
The site is included in the Heidelberg Road Neighbourhood Activity Centre.
Precinct 3B – Commercial 1 Zone land that includes heritage significant, narrow-fronted buildings. It is also affected by an existing Public Acquisition Overlay (PAO). Draft Amendment C273 proposes to apply the Heritage Overlay (HO) to several properties within this precinct.
This precinct is included within the Heidelberg Road Neighbourhood Activity Centre.
The built form and design requirements in proposed draft DDO18 are split into ‘General Requirements’ that apply across the Precincts and ‘Precinct Design Requirements’ that are specific to each Precinct.
The requirements cover elements such as street wall height, upper level front and side street setbacks, building height, interface and rear setbacks, overshadowing and daylight access, front setbacks to street(s), building separation, building layout and access, parking and loading bay requirements.
How tall can buildings be?
The proposed overall building heights vary across the Heidelberg Road Precincts to respond to local policy directions, urban context, relevant VCAT decisions, learnings from other recent amendments, recommended outcomes from the Heidelberg Road Built Form Framework and the Council Resolution on the interim DDO18 [ PDF, 1.18 MB] .
Buildings of between 4 to 5 storeys are potentially allowable across proposed draft DDO18. In some areas, lower heights of 3 storeys are proposed. Taller buildings of 7 to 8 storeys are envisaged on two larger sites in Precinct 1 and 3A.
To view the proposed building heights for each precinct and whether they are mandatory maximum heights or preferred maximum heights, see proposed draft DDO18 (Clause 2.3 - Precinct Design Requirements) [ PDF, 3.15 MB] .
Mandatory and preferred requirements
Proposed draft DDO18 includes a mix of mandatory maximum requirements and preferred maximum requirements. Mandatory requirements must be met and cannot be varied. A discretionary (or preferred) requirement provides for flexibility to achieve the required outcome.
Proposed changes to the Heritage Overlay
Draft Amendment C273 proposes to apply the Heritage Overlay (HO) to several properties and delete the Heritage Overlay from one property:
- Apply HO451 to 730-734 Heidelberg Road, Alphington
- Apply HO455 to 760-764 Heidelberg Road, Alphington
- Delete HO362 from 2 Killop Street, Alphington
Statements of Significance have been prepared as part of the strategic justification for the proposed new Heritage Overlays.
Proposed changes to the Planning Policy Framework
Draft Amendment C273 includes new policy at 11.03-1L Activity Centres to guide built form within the Heidelberg Road Neighbourhood Activity Centre (NAC). This update is based on the adopted planning policy framework from Amendment C269. It includes general strategies that apply across the NAC as well as site specific/section specific strategies.
What controls are currently in place for the area?
At the moment, there are temporary requirements that apply to the area (introduced via Amendment C272yara and extended via Amendment C312yara). These are in the form of an interim Design and Development Overlay - Schedule 18 (DDO18) - Heidelberg Road Precincts. Interim DDO18 will expire on 30 June 2025. The permanent requirements that are proposed in Draft Amendment C273yara would replace interim DDO18.
The documents below and all submissions made during the exhibition, referred to the Committee:
Below are the formal draft amendment documents that were exhibited during Stage 2 of the process.
Amendment documents
The supporting documents below have helped to inform draft Amendment C273yara. They provide the strategic justification for the amendment
Traffic and Vehicle Access Assessment
Draft Heidelberg Road Corridor Local Area Plan
In a collaborative project with Darebin City Council, Yarra City Council has prepared a high-level Heidelberg Road Local Area Plan (LAP) [ PDF, 5.77 MB] between the Merri and Darebin Creeks. The LAP will provide a framework to manage future growth and change along the Heidelberg Road Corridor.
The LAP would be finalised once Darebin City Council has completed its own background work to inform it.
View information on the Draft Local Area Plan [ PDF, 5.77 MB] on our Heidelberg Road Local Area Plan page.
Information Sheets
Information sheets have been prepared to provide explanations about how the amendment was developed and what it is trying to achieve. They are not part of the formal amendment documentation.
Council Report
The Council Meeting Report and Meeting Minutes can also assist you. They provide an overview of the draft amendment.
Background
Why have we prepared this draft amendment?
The State Government requires local councils to address population and employment changes to meet their city’s needs. Activity centres have been identified as appropriate areas to accommodate growth as they have good access to employment, public transport and other amenities.
The Yarra Spatial Economic and Employment Strategy (2018) seeks to support growth in retail and other employment uses in the Neighbourhood Activity Centre (NAC) and commercial areas along Heidelberg Road.
The former Alphington Paper Mill site (APM) is identified in Plan Melbourne as an ‘urban renewal precinct’ and is categorised as a ‘high change area’ in Yarra’s Housing Strategy (2018) and in adopted Clause 16.01-1L ‘Location of residential development’. Redevelopment of this site is guided by a site-specific Development Plan Overlay (DPO) and an approved Development Plan. The Yarra Housing Strategy notes that a large amount of development is already occurring within the APM site.
The above policy directions assist to reinforce the importance of the NAC and surrounding commercial areas and to limit changes in established residential areas.
Land along Heidelberg Road in Fairfield and Alphington is experiencing development pressure due to its good access to Melbourne CBD, proximity to public transport and other employment and activity centres.
Recent planning permit applications and VCAT decisions show that development pressure is continuing to occur, within commercial areas outside the former APM site.
The communities in Fairfield and Alphington have expressed concerns about the scale and amount of development and have sought stronger planning provisions to achieve greater certainty and a balance between allowing some development, retaining a sense of place and protecting adjacent residential areas.
Interim Design and Development Overlay – Schedule 18 (Heidelberg Road Precincts) applied in October 2021 in response to development pressure, will lapse and needs to be replaced with a permanent control. More information about the interim planning control can be found on the Amendment C272 webpage.
Draft Amendment C273yara is required to ensure new development responds sensitively towards residential areas, heritage buildings and public spaces and to provide greater certainty of potential built form outcomes.
How was the Amendment prepared?
Council prepared the following strategic background work to inform Amendment C272yara which introduced interim DDO18:
- Heidelberg Road Heritage Review (Stage 1), RBA Architects Conservation Consultants 2019;
- Heidelberg Road Heritage Review (Stage 2), RBA Architects Conservation Consultants 2019;
- Part 1: Heidelberg Road Built Form Framework – Urban Context Analysis, Hodyl & Co, July 2019;
- Part 2: Heidelberg Road Built Form Framework – Design Strategy and Recommendations, Hodyl & Co, November 2019; and
- Traffic and Vehicle Access Assessment, Heidelberg Road, Fairfield/Alphington, Traffix Group, November 2019
Since the strategic background work has been completed and interim controls have been applied, we have undertaken a review of the interim DDO18 to test its suitability for translation into a permanent provision and made necessary refinements. The review included:
- Consideration of community consultation feedback from 2021;
- Consideration of Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) cases within the area to enhance the clarity and workability of the provision;
- Learnings from other recently adopted amendments; and
- Ensuring it will achieve the development outcomes sought for the Precincts.
How to find out more
A full hard copy of the draft amendment C273yara documentation currently on exhibition can also be viewed at:
- Planning Counter, Richmond Town Hall, 333 Bridge Road, Richmond
- Collingwood Town Hall, 140 Hoddle Street, Abbotsford
An activity centre is usually based around a shopping strip. They are locations with good access to services, employment opportunities, public transport and other amenities. Yarra has a well-established network of activity centres that play a key role in accommodating most of the commercial and residential growth of Yarra.
A Design and Development Overlay (DDO) is a planning tool that is applied to areas such as activity centres that need specific requirements to guide the built form and design of new development.
The scale and density of developments approved and currently being proposed in Yarra’s activity centres has increased substantially in recent years. Hence, Council is using Design and Development Overlays to help guide these potential future developments within the activity centres.
Further information explaining what a DDO does can be found in our General DDO Information Sheet. [ PDF, 1.18 MB]
Most of Yarra's DDOs contain a mix of preferred and mandatory requirements.
The Victorian Planning system prefers the use of preferred requirements as they provide flexibility to respond to local context and unique urban conditions of a site or an area.
The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning has developed a series of planning practice notes to provide guidance on the appropriate use of mandatory and preferred requirements. For further information please check PPN59 and PPN60.
Mandatory requirements are applied only when they are seen as 'absolutely necessary' to achieve the preferred built form outcome or where 'exceptional circumstances' warrant their introduction. Introduction of any mandatory requirements must be based on robust and comprehensive strategic work.
A DDO can only focus on built form and design aspects and cannot act as a heritage control. Within the Victorian Planning System it is the role of the Heritage Overlay to protect local heritage.
However, the content of a DDO is often informed by rigorous analysis and testing of a combination of urban design, heritage and traffic matters.
Many of Yarra’s DDOs also contain objectives and requirements to ensure new development responds sensitively towards heritage buildings and streetscape. A DDO can include overall building heights or setbacks for upper level parts of a proposed building above a heritage building which help to ensure that new development is separate from the below and/or adjoining heritage building.
Further information explaining what a DDO does can be found in our General DDO Information Sheet [ PDF, 1.18 MB] .
Not at the moment. Yarra currently has a number of interim DDO’s that are already in the planning scheme. These apply to live planning permit applications and any future planning permit applications, until the permanent DDOs are introduced into the Yarra Planning Scheme.
The other tools in the Planning Scheme will continue to apply. For example, if your property is also covered by a Heritage Overlay, these requirements would remain in place and also need to be taken into account when preparing a planning permit application.
No. The proposed DDOs generally do not apply to public housing estates.
For more information on projects that directly impact the public housing properties please check Homes Victoria.
The interim DDOs are temporary and have an expiry date. In Yarra, interim DDOs have been introduced to manage development in certain areas that are under high development pressure to provide higher levels of certainty. An interim DDO can follow a shorter amendment process and is usually used to fill a gap in the scheme relatively quickly.
Permanent DDOs are prepared and progressed through a longer planning scheme amendment process than an interim DDO, including public exhibition and public hearings by an independent panel or committee. A permanent DDO does not have an expiry date.
Based on a request by Yarra City Council, the Minister for Planning established the Yarra Activity Standing Advisory Committee to provide for a more efficient process amend Yarra’s planning scheme and introduce permanent DDOs. For more information regarding the draft amendment process under the Standing Advisory Committee please refer to the Yarra Activity Centres Standing Advisory Committee - Information Sheet [ PDF, 295.23 KB] .
To make any changes to a planning scheme a statutory process referred to as an “amendment” is required. This process is set out in the Planning and Environment Act 1987 (the Act).
An amendment to the planning scheme can be proposed by a Council, the Minister for Planning or a private individual.
Under the Terms of Reference for the Yarra Activity Centre Standing Advisory Committee the amendment is called a Draft Amendment as it will be considered by a Standing Advisory Committee (a different process under the Planning and Environment Act).
For more information regarding the draft amendment process, please refer to the Yarra Activity Centres Standing Advisory Committee - Information Sheet [ PDF, 295.23 KB] .
Advisory Committees are appointed by the Minister for Planning under the Planning and Environment Act 1987 to advise on any matter which is referred to it by the Minister. The Terms of Reference (ToR) for the Yarra Activity Centre Standing Advisory Committee (the Committee) was signed by the Minister for Planning (the Minister) on 10 June 2021.
The main role of the Committee is to:
- Provide timely advice to the Minister and Yarra City Council on referred planning matters and associated draft Yarra Planning Scheme provisions for Yarra’s strip shopping centres (activity centres) and other areas of urban change.
- Provide an opportunity for submitters to be heard if requested by any submitter, including Yarra City Council.
Advisory Committees are guided by a document called a “Terms of Reference” which outlines the scope of the Advisory Committee and the process it should generally follow. The Yarra Activity Centres Standing Advisory Committee Terms of Reference can be viewed on Council's website.
Further information regarding the Standing Advisory Committee can be found in our Yarra Activity Centres Standing Advisory Committee - Information Sheet [ PDF, 295.23 KB] .
Yes, the draft amendment was on exhibition in July/August 2023. You can have a look at the draft amendment documentation, free of charge at:
- on this page under Exhibited Draft Amendment
- during office hours at Planning Counter, Richmond Town Hall, 333 Bridge Road, Richmond
- during office hours at Collingwood Town Hall, 140 Hoddle Street, Abbotsford
Yes, you are only given the opportunity to speak and participate in the Advisory Committee hearing if you made a written submission.
The exhibition of C273yara has now closed and Council has considered submissions to the amendment. If you wish to attend the Hearing but did not make a submission, please contact Planning Panels Victoria (PPV) via planning.panels@transport.vic.gov.au as soon as possible. Council will not be able to formally consider any new submissions.
The exhibition of C273yara has now closed and Council has considered submissions to the amendment. If you wish to attend the Hearing but did not make a submission, please contact Planning Panels Victoria (PPV) via planning.panels@transport.vic.gov.au.
The Committee will consider all submissions received, whether by individuals or groups. Organisations, residents, or groups of individual submitters with similar issues are encouraged to provide a single 'group' submission. This approach streamlines the submission and Hearing process. Correspondence for organisations and residents’ groups will be directed to the nominated contact person for that group.
Yes. All submissions received in respect of the draft Amendment at the Standing Advisory Committee Hearing will be treated as public documents.
Please note that Council will not publish personal information about an individual that can make them identifiable without the individual’s consent. Once we have received all the submissions every submitter will be given a number and this number will be referenced in all public documents.
If a submission requires changes to any specific properties, the property address will be published without consent. This is required to understand the matter being considered.
Even though personal information will not be published it is important to note that submissions with no contact details are not accepted. These details are needed by Council and the Committee to ensure the submissions are genuine and to contact submitters throughout the process.
The Advisory Committee will review and hear submissions and provide Council and the Minister for Planning with their recommendations on draft Amendment C273yara. Planning Panels Victoria outline what a panel is and how a panel works on their website.