The Melbourne streets earmarked for high-rises under high-density plan

Residents will lose the power to appeal residential developments within 10 activity centres that are designed to fit an extra 60,000 apartments by 2051 to increase density in established Melbourne suburbs.

Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny said the draft maps that went out for consultation on Thursday would show communities what Broadmeadows, Camberwell Junction, Chadstone, Epping, Frankston, Moorabbin, Niddrie, North Essendon, Preston and Ringwood will look like in coming decades.

Residential construction would be streamlined for developments that meet the new height limits, which vary between three and 20 storeys once enforced.

Each activity centre would have different rules to suit the character of the neighbourhood, and heights would taper off in a broader “catchment area” around these denser streets.

Premier Jacinta Allan said fast-tracking developments in the locations would unlock more homes in the right areas, and that Camberwell, for example, did not have enough homes to match the transport connections and services in the neighbourhood.

“The alternative is to see young people who grew up here in Camberwell have to live further and further away from their families, their friends, their jobs and the services that they rely on,” Allan said on Thursday.

Development applications would still be publicly exhibited and open to third-party appeals for the broader catchments. But residents could lose the power to appeal within the activity zones if an application meets the rules.

Kilkenny said: “If the development proposed meets the building envelope – and remember, we have only arrived at the building envelope, having gone through a very methodical process to work out exactly what is site-specific and appropriate for that area. If the development meets all of that and the building envelope, then the notice and review period can be switched off. It will create a more streamlined planning approvals process to enable more homes to be built more quickly.

“This is about clarity and certainty, providing clear rules across these 10 activity centres so that everyone here, all of the councils, all of the communities can see what their neighbourhoods could look like over the decades ahead.”

The government hopes to encourage the construction of 60,000 homes in the 10 activity centres by 2051, which were identified in the housing statement released in September.

In Broadmeadows, the government proposed loosening rules to encourage residential development of up to 12 storeys to the west of the station at Pascoe Vale Road.

Chadstone Shopping Centre could go up to 12 storeys, and a fringe precinct along Dandenong Road could allow six-storey development.

In Epping, the activity centre would have various heights ranging between three and 12 storeys from Cooper and High streets.

Next to the Nepean Highway and the Frankston railway station, the streamlined planning process would apply to residential developments between three and 16 storeys.

Some blocks beside South Road and the Nepean Highway in Moorabbin could go between eight and 12 storeys high. However, some blocks would be limited to six or eight storeys. A residential precinct could also make way for five storeys before height limits taper off for the broader catchment.

Keilor Road in Niddrie could have pockets of 10 storeys fast-tracked, though this activity centre would also have six and eight-storey limitations under the proposal.

In Preston, land surrounding the market has already been allowed to reach 14 storeys. The activity centre, which begins at Bell Street at the south end and follows High Street up to Regent Station, would allow various heights between four and 10 storeys.

On Thursday, The Age  revealed that residential developments up to 12 storeys would be fast-tracked in the Camberwell activity centre, and that apartments up to 20 storeys would be streamlined between the Ringwood Bypass and Maroondah Highway.

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

The government has a broader target of 800,000 new homes being constructed over the decade.

Hume City Council welcomed additional homes and residents targeted for its community, but was disappointed the plan had progressed without formal consultation with councils.

The council said a thriving activity centre “will require more than just bricks and mortar”, and that new homes would have to be supported with a boost to local infrastructure, such as a redevelopment of the Broadmeadows station.

“Before we see investment in houses in the air – more work needs to be done on the ground,” Hume Mayor Naim Kurt said.

Opposition Leader John Pesutto questioned how the government proposed to fund the additional infrastructure that would be required to support the extra residents.

“Today’s announcement, if you can call it that, is simply a media stunt with no real detail and no actual solution to Victoria’s housing crisis,” Pesutto said on Thursday.

He said it was well accepted across the community that established suburbs needed more housing, but that people did not want development imposed on them.

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