Amendment C291yara - Bridge Road and Victoria Street

 

Yarra City Council is proposing to introduce permanent built form and design requirements for Bridge Road, Richmond and Victoria Street, Richmond/Abbotsford and some of the surrounding area.

These changes will help guide potential future development, ensure development is sensitive to heritage buildings and minimises impacts on sensitive residential interfaces such as backyards and public spaces like footpaths, parks and expanded street corners.

The permanent built form and design requirements will be introduced through an amendment to the Yarra Planning Scheme known as Draft Amendment C291yara.

Adopted version of the amendment

Council has now submitted the draft amendment to the Minister for Planning for approval.

Below are the adopted draft amendment documents that have been submitted: 

Background documents

What stage is this draft amendment at and what are the next steps? 

There are six stages in the draft amendment process. The draft amendment is currently at the final stage of the process.

The draft amendment was publicly exhibited in September - October 2021 with 122 submissions received. The submissions were considered by the Council in December 2021. Council proposed a number of changes to the amendment in response to submissions. 

Following the consideration of all submissions by the Council in December 2021, the Minister for Planning referred the draft Amendment C291yara to the Yarra Activity Centre Standing Advisory Committee.

A hearing was held to consider the draft amendment in April 2022.  

The Committee has prepared a report that considers the draft Amendment and provides recommendations.

The Council considered the Committee's findings and recommendations on 2 August 2022. At that meeting, the Council resolved to support the Committee's recommendations with changes and request the Minister for Planning to approve the Amendment in the Council's preferred form.

You can find more information on Yarra’s Advisory Committee Process and Amendments on Yarra's webpage , Planning Panel’s Victoria website and on the Yarra Standing Advisory Committee - Information Sheet.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Standing Advisory Committee Report

The Committee has prepared two reports

  • Report 1 contains background and planning context matters common to planning scheme amendments which the Committee has considered. The Committee has considered two Amendments: Amendment C291yara and C293yara - Collingwood South Precinct.
  • Report 3 considers the draft Amendment C291yara and provides recommendations to the draft Amendment.

Standing Advisory Committee Hearing

Following public exhibition of the draft amendment, the Council considered submissions at its 21 December 2021 meeting. Council resolved to request the Minister for Planning refer the draft Amendment to the Yarra Activity Centres Standing Advisory Committee (the Committee).

The Minister for Planning referred the draft amendment and submissions to the Committee in early 2022.All submitters to the draft amendment were advised of the Standing Advisory Committee Hearing (Hearing) to consider the draft amendment and provided with an opportunity to be heard. The Directions Hearing was held on 4 March 2022. The main hearing was held for 12 days between 4 - 22 April 2022.

Referral of Amendment C291yara to the Standing Advisory Committee.

In its meeting on the 21 December 2021 Council resolved to request the Minister for Planning refer draft Amendment C291yara to the Yarra Activity Centre Standing Advisory Committee.

At the 21 December 2021 Council meeting, the Council recommended additional changes to the amendment. These formed the Council’s advocacy position at the Yarra Activity Centres Standing Advisory Committee hearing. 

What are the proposed changes to the Planning Scheme?

The draft amendment proposes to:

  • replace the two interim Design and Development Overlay Schedules, DDO21 and DDO22 with 10 new permanent Design and Development Overlay Schedules (DDO41 to DDO50) to the Bridge Road and Victoria Street Activity Centres. 
  • insert new policy on both Victoria Street and Bridge Road Activity Centres in the Local Area Policy at Clause 21.12. This would include Preferred Future Character Statements and policy covering built form and heritage, access and movement and public realm. (UPDATE - The Adopted Version of the amendment also includes a new policy at Clause 11.03-1L.)
  • introduce the background documents which informed the new requirement as reference documents in in the planning scheme at Clause 21.11. (UPDATE - The Adopted Version of the amendment has relocated background documents to Clause 72.08 Background Documents)

The draft amendment makes some minor changes to the boundaries of the DDOs and includes Commercial 2 zoned land outside the interim DDO on the south-western side of Burnley Street as the area contains large sites with high development potential.

The draft amendment does not include any changes to the land use zoning or to the Heritage Overlay.

What controls are currently in place for the area?

At the moment, there are temporary requirements (interim DDO21 – Bridge Road Activity Centre and DDO22 – Victoria Street Centre) that apply to the two centres.

These will expire on 31 March 2023. The permanent requirements that are proposed in Amendment C291 would replace interim DDO21 and DDO22.

Proposed Precincts and DDOs

The draft amendment splits Bridge Road and Victoria Street Activity Centres into 10 different precincts. Tailored built form and design requirements (Design and Development Overlays) apply to each precinct.  The Design and Development Overlays (DDOs) set requirements for the height, form and the general design of buildings. The amendment also includes new policy which describes the proposed future character of the 10 precincts in Clause 21.11 – Local Areas.

The maps below and the tiles tell you more about the ten precincts and proposed new provisions. 

There is more information about what the amendment is trying to achieve underneath the tiles.

Land affected by the Amendment

View the map below to see which DDO applies to your property or you are close to.

Bridge Road - Design and Development Overlays DDO41-45

Victoria Street - Design and Development Overlays DDO46-50



What is this Amendment trying to achieve?

One of the roles of the amendment is to guide how the 10 precincts might look and feel in the future. New policy in Clause 21.11 – Local Areas which describes the proposed future character of the 10 new precincts. 

The Design and Development Overlays (DDOs) are the planning tools that are applied to areas to set the built form and design requirements which are needed for new development. If you want to know more about DDOs see the General Design and Development Overlay (DDO) Information Sheet.

The ten draft DDOs guide different levels of development across the two activity centres. The DDOs aim to strike a balance between ensuring new buildings respond sensitively to heritage buildings and minimise their impacts on footpaths and parks and neighbouring residential areas whilst allowing commercial and mixed-use development.

How tall can buildings be?

The proposed overall building heights vary across the ten DDOs to respond to the context, opportunities for growth and unique character of each precinct. Heritage streetscapes, important public spaces and low-rise residential neighbourhoods have influenced the proposed heights. 

The DDOs generally support lower mid-rise buildings with some taller buildings in appropriate areas. For the majority of the DDOs, buildings of between 5 to 8 storeys are supported. In some areas, lower heights of 3 and 4 storeys are proposed. For example, to protect views to important landmarks. Taller buildings of 8 to 12 storeys are encouraged in other areas where there are less heritage buildings or no neighbouring residential properties. 

How has heritage been addressed?

In the DDOs, new buildings and additions are required to respond sensitively to heritage buildings and heritage streetscapes. They require the heritage streetscapes to be retained and any development above the heritage building to be pushed back. Mandatory overall building heights have also been applied to heritage buildings. 

In other areas, where there are no defining heritage streetscapes, a new character would be created. In these areas, the height of street wall (the height of the building on the street) could be up to 15m (4 storeys). Taller parts of the building above 4 storeys would be pushed back by 3 to 6 metres. Overall building heights in these areas vary from 5 to 10 storeys. 

What else do the DDOs cover?

The DDOs also include requirements that:

  • ensure new buildings minimise any impacts on the amenity of adjoining low scale residential neighbourhoods such as overlooking or reducing sunlight to backyards.
  • make sure future buildings do not block important views to landmarks such as to the Pelaco Sign, St Ignatius Church spire on Richmond Hill or the Richmond Town Hall Clocktower. 
  • ensure space between taller buildings 
  • retain sunlight to the footpath on Bridge Road, Victoria Street and other pedestrian and cycle routes 
  • manage vehicle and pedestrian access to properties 
  • manage the effects of wind and other building design requirements. 

Mandatory and preferred requirements

The exhibited DDOs include a mix of mandatory and preferred requirements. Mandatory requirements must be met and cannot be varied. A discretionary (or preferred) requirement provides for flexibility in the approach how to achieve the required outcome.

More information on the precincts and DDOs

The Draft Amendment C291 - Project Information Sheet, the 10 Information Sheets for DDO41-50 and the formal Amendment Documents below, provide more information about the draft amendment.  

If you want to know more about what DDOs can and cannot guide see the General Design and Development Overlay (DDO) Information Sheet. The Frequently Asked Questions - FAQs at the bottom of this page also provide more information.

Exhibited Draft Amendment Documents

Below are the draft amendment documents that were exhibited. Draft DDO41-40 and updates to Local Policy are proposed to become part of the Yarra Planning Scheme. 
Note: Following the 21 December 2021 Council meeting, Council has adopted a preferred version of the draft amendment that is different from the exhibited versions below. Please refer to the Referred Documents above for the latest version of the draft amendment. 

Exhibited Amendment Documents

NOTE: An updated version of the Explanatory Report is available for download below. The map in the Explanatory Report showing the land affected by the draft amendment did not include the properties at 188, 194, 196A, 198 and 200 Burnley Street, and 21 and 23 Neptune Street, Richmond. The draft amendment does apply to these properties. It proposes to include them in Precinct 4 – Bridge Road East South under Schedule 44 to the Design and Development Overlay (DDO44). The map in the explanatory report has been updated to reflect this. The DDO44 on Council’s website is correct and does not contain the mapping error identified above.

Supporting Documents

The supporting documents below have helped to inform Amendment C291. They provide the strategic justification for the draft amendment.

Information Sheets

Information sheets were prepared 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 Reports

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 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.

Victoria Street and Bridge Road are both identified as ‘major activity centres’. This means they need to play a significant role in both housing and employment. However, at the same time it is important to retain their heritage and local character.

Interim Design and Development Overlays (DDO21 – Bridge Road and DDO22 – Victoria Street) applied in late 2018 in response to development pressure will lapse in June 2022 and need to be replaced with permanent requirements. More information about the interim planning controls can be found on the Amendment C248 webpage.

The draft amendment progresses the permanent requirements which will help manage future change, ensure new development responds sensitively towards heritage buildings, footpaths, parks and expanded street corners and to provide greater certainty of built form outcomes.

How was the amendment prepared?

Council engaged urban design, heritage and traffic consultants to review the interim DDOs.

The recommendations of their reports provide the strategic work which underpins the draft amendment and have informed the permanent provisions for Victoria Street and Bridge Road. 

How to find out more

Subject to Covid restrictions, a full hard copy of the draft amendment C291yara documentation can also be viewed at:

  • Planning Counter, Richmond Town Hall, 333 Bridge Road, Richmond
  • Collingwood Town Hall, 140 Hoddle Street, Abbotsford

If you would like to find out more about the draft amendment, please call 9205 5555 to talk to a strategic planner.

Frequently Asked Questions