Hearing of Planning Panel - Completed

An independent Planning Panel was appointed to consider the amendment and conducted a hearing in late July.

The Panel’s report is available and can be viewed here.

The Report will be considered at a Council meeting at the next suitable opportunity.

Council Resolution

Thank you for your submission on Planning Scheme Amendment C172.

A Council meeting on Monday 20 May considered submissions to amendment C172 and resolved that Council:

1. Notes the submissions received to Amendment C172 to the Banyule Planning Scheme;
2. Requests the Minister for Planning appoint an independent Planning Panel to consider submissions to Amendment C172 to the Banyule Planning Scheme; and
3. Provides a submission to the Planning Panel which supports Amendment C172 to the Banyule Planning Scheme as exhibited, subject to the scope of changes outlined in Attachment 4 and any additional minor corrections identified as necessary in the preparation of Council’s submission.
4. Intends to rezone Powlett St Reserve as a Public Park and Recreation Zone and that this will be progressed through a separate statutory process.

To view the minutes from 20 May Council Meeting, go to Council's website and refer to Item 6.1 in the minutes.

Planning Scheme Amendment C172 proposes to implement the land use and urban design recommendations of the Heidelberg Structure Plan (April 2023) for the Heidelberg Major Activity Centre (MAC).

The amendment applies to:

• Land to be removed from the Heidelberg MAC, which includes certain land in proximity of Gotha Street, south of St Hellier Street (depicted as 'A' in the map below)
• Land to be retained within the Heidelberg MAC (depicted as 'B' in the map below).

Proposed changes include:

• To apply two new zones within the Heidelberg MAC, which are:
  • Schedule 2 to the Activity Centre Zone (ACZ2), which the amendment proposes to apply to much of the Heidelberg MAC, particularly its central corridor of commercial land located along Bell and Burgundy Streets and adjacent streets.
  • Schedule 5 to the General Residential Zone (GRZ5), which the amendment proposes to apply to a significant portion of the residential areas within the periphery of the MAC.
• To modify the content of the existing Residential Growth Zone (RGZ1).
• Implement urban design guidelines, that for example:
  • Set building height limits and front setbacks that support the preferred character for the centre, whilst still facilitating growth where appropriate.
  • Support the accessibility for the centre, particularly for pedestrians.
  • Protect and enhance the public realm, and prevent inappropriate overshadowing.
  • Provide a transition in development that is suitably sensitive to residential areas.

• Allow for land use to support the viability and vitality of the centre, to support further residential growth within much of the periphery of the MAC and in walking distance of shops and services.
• A modest change to the boundary of the Heidelberg MAC by removing "Area A" shown in the above map "Land affected by Amendment C172".

Proposed Building Height Limits

The Heidelberg Structure Plan proposes to apply a new suite of height limits for future development in the Heidelberg MAC. Click here to view the proposed height limits map, which is taken from page 31 of the Structure Plan.

For a significant portion of the centre, the proposed building height limits retain or only moderately vary the existing height limits. For example, it is proposed that an existing building height limit of 11 metres (3 storeys) be retained over much of the residential areas within the Heidelberg MAC.

Amendment C172 particularly proposes to implement the maximum building height limits recommended by the Heidelberg Structure Plan by applying the revised Schedule 1 to the Residential Growth Zone (RGZ1) and both the new Schedule 5 to the General Residential Zone (GRZ5) and the Schedule 2 to the Activity Centre Zone (ACZ2).

Please note that the Amendment C172 does not propose to rezone or apply maximum building height limits, recommended by the Heidelberg Structure Plan, for the existing corridor of Commercial 2 Zone (C2Z) land which abuts the west side of Upper Heidelberg Road between Thames Street and St Hellier Street. Additional strategic work is required regarding this land.

View the documents for Amendment C172, in the amended documents tab on this page.

The Heidelberg Structure Plan is a place-based strategic framework that will guide growth and coordinate Council investment and activity in the Heidelberg MAC over the next twenty years.

The Structure Plan builds upon the previous 2010 version and establishes the basis for the future application of an Activity Centre Zone (ACZ) in the Banyule Planning Scheme. Key elements of the plan include:

• a framework for the whole Heidelberg centre
• 6 precincts, each with its own vision, strategies and actions.
• objectives and strategies for ‘Activity and Land Use’, ‘Built form and Character’, ‘Access and Connection’ and ‘Places for People: Public Realm and Open Space’.

What we did

Following the consultation period in 2021 on the draft Heidelberg Structure Plan, we:

• Collated and analysed all your feedback and provided a summary report on the community engagement finds.
• Council considered all the feedback received prior to finalising the Plan at its meeting on 6 December 2021 and request that it be presented with a proposed planning scheme amendment to implement the Heidelberg Structure Plan.

Most recently, we:

• Considered a draft Amendment C172 to the Banyule Planning Scheme (17 April 2023), which proposes to implement the Heidelberg Structure Plan through the scheme.
• Resolved to take the steps to formally commence and exhibit the amendment.
• Approved a revised version of the Heidelberg Structure Plan, dated April 2023, which includes minor modifications to better support the proposed amendment.