Project update - April 2026

Approval of Planning Scheme Amendments C172 and GC270

The State Government has approved and gazetted two planning scheme amendments, C172 and GC270, that together introduce new planning provisions for the Heidelberg Activity Centre and surrounding land.

Council is pleased that the intent of the Heidlberg Structure Plan has been applied to the core of the Heidelberg Activity Centre and key areas of surrounding land have been excluded from the State’s higher growth zone to protect heritage and neighbourhood character.

Council asked for other areas of land to be excluded from the Housing Choice and Transport Zone (HCTZ) new zone but not all of Council’s feedback has been incorporated.

Background:

In 2020 Council commenced work on a proposed Heidelberg Structure Plan, followed by a proposed planning scheme amendment C172, that included broad consultation with the community on future development potential for the Heidelberg Activity Centre.

After considering community submissions and the findings on an independent panel, Council adopted both the Heidlberg Structure Plan and Amendment C172 at the 10 February 2025 Council Meeting.

In late Feb 2025 the State Government announced its own Activity Centres Program would prepare new planning controls for 60 activity centres, including Heidelberg.

In Sep-Oct 2025 the State Government released maps of proposed development areas and guidelines for both the core and adjacent residential areas of the Heidelberg Activity Centre.

Council made a submission to the exhibited maps and asked for changes for certain areas. In particular, Council asked that the some proposed areas, where higher levels of residential growth would be allowed, be reduced on various grounds, including to protect areas of existing heritage, to support appropriate development and because some areas were outside the States Government’s own walkable catchment guidelines.

On 27 March 2026 the government gazetted Council’s proposed amendment C172, which introduces Council’s provisions for the core of the Heidelberg Activity Centre, but not all of those that Council proposed for residential land within the periphery of the activity centre.

C172 sets a range of height limits for sites within the core of the activity centre. Specific sites and height limits can now be viewed as part of the Banyule Planning Scheme – Activity Centre Zone schedule and Residential Growth Zone schedules

On 31 March 2026 the government gazetted GC270, which for Banyule primarily applies the State Government’s new Housing Choice and Transport Zone, applied as either HCTZ1 or HCTZ2, to much of the residential interface within and outside the Heidelberg Activity Centre. Details of the HCTZ1 and HCTZ2 can now be viewed here: Banyule Planning Scheme - Housing Choice and Transport Zone

The current application of planning scheme zones at Heidelberg, and Banyule in general, can be seen here: Banyule Planning Scheme - Maps

The adopted Planning Scheme Amendment C172 proposes to implement the land use and urban design recommendations of the Heidelberg Structure Plan (February 2025) for the Heidelberg Major Activity Centre.

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 adopted Structure Plan (February 2025).

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 adopted Amendment C172, in the adopted 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: