New inner-city building guide tightened to ease tower fears

Inner-city councillors have moved to clarify development guidelines that stoked fears of 14-storey apartment blocks towering over some of Melbourne’s best-known shopping strips.

A draft planning framework for the City of Yarra said mid-rise developments should be concentrated around major activity centres in Richmond, Collingwood and Fitzroy such as Swan, Smith and Brunswick streets.

Brunswick Street last year.Credit:Eddie Jim

That document, known as C269, describes Yarra’s existing buildings as being predominantly low- to mid-rise, with some taller buildings above 14 storeys. Locals feared developers could use that description to insist on new developments being 14-storeys in precincts that don’t have their own mandatory controls.

A coalition of at least 15 community groups came together to demand changes to the draft framework and, after hearing from dozens of residents on Tuesday night, councillors unanimously agreed to make minor clarifications and deleted the reference to 14 storeys.

Developments are supposed to abide by the character of each area and tight heritage and precinct rules would still supersede the framework, which is not designed to set specific controls.

But separate attempts by the City of Yarra to control the height of developments in Fitzroy and Collingwood’s major retail strips of Brunswick, Gertrude, Johnston and Smith streets have sat on the desk of Planning Minister and local state MP Richard Wynne for 18 months.

Councillors on Tuesday night agreed to push Mr Wynne to sign off on those temporary planning rules, which meant the council had been “unable to effectively regulate development in the area”, according to a motion from Greens councillor Sophie Wade. Mr Wynne said that was the fault of the council, “which has dragged its feet on the work needed to provide planning certainty”.

Victoria’s planning guidelines state mandatory height limits should be imposed only in exceptional circumstances.

Concerns about C269 were not shared by everyone.

Jeremy Lawrence, president of Streets Alive Yarra, which backed the draft guidelines, said mid-rise development should be focused around well-connected transport corridors to create walkable neighbourhoods with diverse housing options.

“We have a growing population so [we have] practical concerns, but we also have values-based concerns. So giving people the opportunity to live in Yarra, to have a meaningful life without a long commute,” he said.

Others worried about overshadowing, wind tunnels and soulless developments destroying the village-like feel of parts of the council area.

The draft guidelines, which have been in the works for years, received more than 400 objections last year and a decision was previously deferred to allow for more consultation.

C269 â€" which includes guidelines for affordable housing, active shopfronts, sustainability, open space and transport â€" will now go to a state government planning panel.

Yarra mayor Gabrielle de Vietri said the council was “shoulder and shoulder with the community on this. Our shopping strips are the social and economic hearts of our communities and what make our suburbs such great places to live.”

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Rachel is a city reporter for The Age.

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