Monash University fears SRL plans for housing, office space will swallow high-tech hub

Monash University says its high-tech research and employment precinct risks being cannibalised by apartment buildings and office space under plans put forward by the state government’s Suburban Rail Loop project.

The CSIRO also fears the eastern suburbs underground rail line will interfere with its sensitive research equipment at the Monash Technology Precinct when it opens in 2035, according to concerns it outlines in one of more than 600 public submissions published on Friday night.

An artist’s impression of the SRL station at Monash University. 

The Suburban Rail Loop Authority released draft plans in March outlining how suburbs along the $34.5 billion rail line would be drastically reshaped with high-rise housing and new office space.

The Allan government says SRL East will enable 70,000 extra homes to be built around stations at Box Hill, Clayton, Monash, Glen Waverley, Burwood and Cheltenham, and shift employment away from Melbourne’s CBD.

In its response to the draft structure plan and draft planning scheme amendments, Monash University says that it welcomes the train connection to its Clayton campus but fears the transformation plan could hinder its Monash Technology Precinct.

The precinct is already Melbourne’s largest employment hub outside the CBD and home to institutions including the CSIRO, the Australian Synchrotron, the Victorian Heart Hospital and the Moderna mRNA vaccine plant.

But Monash says the SRL’s Monash precinct plan has a “core focus on housing” – with a goal to increase dwellings from 3900 to 8300, and residents from 10,000 to 17,900, by 2041 – and also forecasts significant growth in general office space.

Both could hinder Monash’s development and risk “cannibalising land” for uses unrelated to the research precinct, the university says, while also expressing concerned the Suburban Rail Loop Authority has earmarked university land as “strategic sites” for development without its agreement.

“While we acknowledge the importance of housing, its provision … must be principally aimed at supporting the primary function of the Monash Technology Precinct,” its submissions says.

“The area around the Monash SRL station should be more focused on tertiary education and employment in research, development, advanced manufacturing etc … rather than traditional office space.”

An artist’s impression of the SRL station at Monash University. 

The authority’s plans have already attracted criticism for treating office space as a “public benefit” that will permit developers to exceed building height limits.

Monash says that for the university to “continue to grow, significantly contribute to the Victorian economy, and drive the advancement of the Monash Technology Precinct”, it is critical the SRL plans “do not inhibit or dilute the potential of the precinct or hinder the university’s ability to master plan and develop its own landholdings”.

The CSIRO says in its submissions that it is also confused about why its Clayton research centre was listed as a strategic site, while raising “significant concern” that electromagnetic interference from the SRL trains could affect its research equipment.

Transmission electron microscopes, for example, are “advancing what can be imaged to sub-nanoscale” and “magnifying a sample upwards of 1 million times requires the quality of data to be precise and the stability of the environment to be absolute,” the submission says.

“CSIRO is concerned that the impacts of electromagnetic interference … will impact sensitive equipment on site, reducing their effectiveness and restricting geographically the location of sensitive equipment. This constraint on precinct planning has the potential to impact the science that CSIRO can achieve.”

The Moderna vaccine plant at Monash University in Clayton.

Electromagnetic interference from trains in the Metro Tunnel has disrupted the use of MRIs and other equipment at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Melbourne University near the new Parkville station.

Deakin University, which is adjacent to Burwood station, also said it was concerned that construction and operation of SRL East might disrupt its research facilities.

The Environment Protection Authority told the Suburban Rail Loop Authority that it should consider further measures to manage the risk of allowing high-density development on 1051 sites across the six precincts that potentially have contaminated soil and could expose residents to health risks such as higher rates of cancer.

Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny has referred elements of the SRL’s precinct plans to a Planning Panels Victoria advisory committee. The committee will hold public hearings starting on August 25 and provide independent advice on the plans to the minister before she decides whether to approve them.

Monash University’s interim chief operating officer, Simon Kupec, said he expected to resolve the university’s concerns with the Suburban Rail Loop Authority.

A spokesperson for the authority said: “We continue to consult closely with communities and stakeholders on this project, exactly so we can better understand their concerns and work with them to explore ways we can mitigate or reduce impacts.”

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.