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Key Planning Changes

What are the Government’s Plans for Boroondara?

1. Eight Government imposed Activity Centres from Kew to Ashburton

  • Apartments up to 6 storeys across large neighbourhood catchments within a 10-minute walk of eight designated train station and tram shopping strips (“cores”) including heritage streets.
  • Apartment towers of up to 16+ storeys permitted in cores.
  • Development transitions from high-rise towers in activity centre cores to 4–6 storey apartments in inner catchments and 3–4 storey apartments and 3–storey townhouses in outer catchments.
  • Boroondara activity centres include: Camberwell Junction, Kew Junction, Hawthorn, Auburn, Glenferrie, Ashburton, Riversdale and Willison.
  • See Government plans → Activity Centres Program

2. Permitted in any residential street – Taller townhouses & apartment developments

  • If the Minister for Planning approves a “Great Design” proposal, existing height and setback controls can be exceeded. There is no right to object or appeal to VCAT.
  • Under fast-track pathways, the Minister for Planning can vary planning rules for projects offering 10% affordable housing (in cash or dwellings). There is no right to object or appeal to VCAT.
  • See Government plans → Great Design Fast Track and Government plans → Development Facilitation Program

3. Permitted within any General Residential Zone (GRZ) located within 800m of a train station

  • Generic, pre-approved apartment designs of up to 3 storeys may be permitted. There is no right to object or appeal to VCAT.
  • See Government plans → Future Homes Program

4. Lower building standards for townhouses & apartments up to 6 storeys

  • Homes built much closer together, less privacy, increased overshadowing, loss of tree canopy, reduced landscaping and private open space, heritage loss, hotter streets, increased on-street parking and reduced overall liveability.
  • See Government plans → Townhouse and Low-Rise Code and Government plans → Mid-Rise Code

5. No right to object or appeal to VCAT

  • If townhouse or apartment developments meet the new codes, Council is required to approve them.
  • Residents lose traditional objection and review rights at VCAT.

6. Other significant changes

  • Minimal certainty regarding funding for new infrastructure and upgrades.
  • 65,500 new homes proposed in Boroondara by 2051 – representing a 90% increase in dwellings.
  • Boroondara Council’s plans for more housing overridden by state-led reforms.
  • Likely loss of heritage.
  • Planning permits may be issued in breach of restrictive covenants.

Crucially these changes are not a solution to the housing crisis. Rezoning more land and allowing more apartments does not guarantee that homes will be built, that they will be affordable, or that they will meet the needs of the Victorians the Government says it wants to help.

Taken together, these changes will fundamentally reshape Boroondara: what can be built, where it can be built, who makes the decisions and how much say communities have in the future of their neighbourhoods.

For more detail on what is planned, what it means for Boroondara and the evidence behind our concerns, explore Bulldozing Melbourne and the Government Plans, Concerns, and Resources sections.