The suburbs to get towers up to 20 storeys in fast-tracked housing plan

New housing developments up to 20 storeys high will be fast-tracked under a state government plan to deliver an extra 60,000 homes across 10 suburban activity centres including Camberwell, Chadstone, Niddrie and Ringwood by 2051.

Planning rules for new townhouses and apartments up to six storeys will also be overhauled for areas within a 10-minute walk of the designated hubs to allow denser neighbourhoods close to shopping and transport.

Under new details of the pilot program, to be announced by the state government on Thursday, the “structure planning” process in new activity centres, named last year, will be fast-tracked – from up to five years down to about 12 months.

The new planning controls will apply in 10 activity centres across Melbourne: in Broadmeadows, Camberwell Junction, Chadstone, Epping, Frankston, Moorabbin, Niddrie, North Essendon, Preston and Ringwood.

Maps provided to The Age show 12-storey developments will be subject to the more lenient rules along Burke Road, between Canterbury and Reserve roads, as well as on land along Camberwell Road, between Auburn and Seymour groves.

Further out in Melbourne’s east, the streamlined planning rules would allow developments of up to 20 storeys on land between the Ringwood Bypass and Maroondah Highway.

Heights will taper off in the much larger “catchment area” around these denser streets, where new rules will encourage townhouses and apartment buildings up to six floors.

Each activity centre will have different height limits and boundaries. These have been developed following consultation with communities.

Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny said the plans recognised that Victorians wanted homes in areas close to jobs, transport and their families.

“Through these plans, we’re looking at how to deliver more homes – and more affordable homes – within walking distance of local shops, schools, services, parks and public transport,” Kilkenny said.

Camberwell will get approvals fast-tracked for housing developments.Credit: Wayne Taylor

Further work will now begin with the housing industry on incentives to ensure each suburban hub is developed with a share of affordable housing.

The zones will also spark further negotiations with councils about funding for infrastructure, including utilities, green space and transport connections to support the surge in population around each centre.

A 12-storey development at Camberwell Junction was approved in June after several Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal disputes over the site going back eight years.

The 10 hubs were identified last September when the state government announced it wanted to deliver 80,000 new homes a year, or 800,000 over a decade, as part of its housing statement.

This strategy included a pledge to build 60,000 homes in established suburban areas, designated as activity centres, with a view to expanding this ambition across 120 locations in Melbourne.

“Activity centres are prime locations for more housing supply … But we’ve heard from industry that the rules for individual permits can be too slow, causing bottlenecks with approvals,” the government said at the time.

The Department of Transport and Planning released early maps in March about where the centres would be focused – but did not detail building heights or how planning controls would speed up development.

At the time, Planning Institute of Australia Victorian president Patrick Fensham urged the government to balance its targets with future livability in these areas.

“For some centres, this will represent a step change in density and intensity. A sole focus on the number of dwellings – ‘hitting a dwelling KPI’ – runs the risk of poor development outcomes, pressure on infrastructure, and incomplete future communities, while possibly alienating the people already living in these centres.”

The government is also working to expand its Future Home program – under which off-the-shelf home designs are meant to be used with faster approval times – to residential-zoned areas within 800 metres of an activity centre or railway station.

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