Police seek cap on CBD tower heights to protect helicopter flight paths

Victoria Police wants to restrict CBD skyscraper heights to protect its emergency helicopter’s flight paths and access to the helipad at its Docklands headquarters, which is Australia’s tallest.

In an application to Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny, police asked that she use her powers to impose controls in parts of the City of Melbourne and Port Phillip to limit building heights in the flight path of the helicopter that lands on the roof of its Spencer Street tower.

The proposed changes would affect skyscrapers being built along four flight paths, which form an X shape with the police headquarters at the centre.

In the zone directly around the headquarters heights would be limited to 154 metres, tapering up to 213 metres further afield in Parkville, Arden and Southbank.

The tallest building in the City of Melbourne – Australia 108 at 70 Southbank Boulevard – is 316.7 metres tall. Developers had originally hoped to reach 388 metres, which would have made the building one of the 20 tallest in the world. But the proposal was resubmitted in 2014 after it conflicted with limits relating to the southerly flight path to Essendon Airport.

Then-planning minister Matthew Guy said he would consult the federal government about the impact of these regulations.

Victoria Police headquarters on Spencer StreetCredit: Elke Meitzel

Just a few doors down from the Victoria Police headquarters is West Side Place at 250 Spencer Street, where the tallest tower is 268.7 metres. A development south of the Yarra, named Sth Bnk, is expected to be Australia’s tallest building at 365 metres when it is finished in 2029.

The state government is considering the proposal, which is open for public consultation. The City of Melbourne – is in caretaker mode ahead of upcoming council elections – is also assessing it and considering whether it will make a submission.

There are already some protected flight-path controls for other emergency services in the existing planning scheme.

A Victoria Police spokesperson said it was crucial to be able to deploy specialist units from the headquarters to critical incidents at short notice.

“Victoria Police’s helicopters play a key role in providing a rapid emergency response within not only the metropolitan area, but the entire state,” the spokesperson said.

“There are currently no planning controls protecting flight paths to the helipad.

“The proposed controls would only affect new permanent and temporary structures at a height of 154 metres and above. They would stretch no more than 1.733 kilometres.”

The spokesperson said most Victoria Police helicopter operations ran out of the force’s Air Wing base at Essendon Fields, with the Docklands helipad “typically only used for emergency response and specialist training”.

Urban planning expert Professor Andrew Butt of RMIT said that while he and most Victorians would be supportive of emergency services safeguarding their flight paths, it was concerning that these problems were often worked through after the fact.

“The real question is why there isn’t really comprehensive planning of these things beforehand,” Butt said.

“It speaks to the way project-focused planning has occurred, rather than a more comprehensive process.”

Butt said he wouldn’t be surprised if the government’s fast-tracked precincts “ran ahead” of similar considerations in suburbs such Clayton in Melbourne’s south-east.

“With so many precinct-led development projects, such as [the Suburban Rail Loop], it’s imperative that genuinely comprehensive and evidence-led planning occurs to ensure vital infrastructure is protected and that private development doesn’t run ahead of this consideration,” he said.

The Spencer Street helipad was used for the first time in 2020.

At the time, Victoria Police Air Wing Inspector Craig Shepherd told Nine News the helipad had been part of the construction plans for the building from the early stages.

“The advantage is that Spencer Street is on the edge of the city, which means the flight path is over railways and open space, so we don’t have to fly within the buildings or within the city grid itself,” he said in 2020.

The helipad’s central location also means helicopters can transport Victoria Police’s specialist teams across the state without refuelling.

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