Communities left in the dark

The whole picture withheld

The planning changes were introduced as separate initiatives. Their cumulative effect is far greater than any one initiative suggests.

Most Victorians know little about them. Those who do are often aware only of the Activity Centre Program and proposals for taller buildings around railway stations and shopping strips.

Community consultation focused almost entirely on the Activity Centre Program. The new residential planning Codes, Future Homes, the Great Design Fast Track and the Development Facilitation Program were not the subject of either council nor broad public consultation, nor were communities shown how these initiatives fit together as one planning system.

Few people have heard of these planning changes, let alone understand how they work together. Fewer still realise that they collectively reshape Melbourne’s established suburbs and fundamentally change the way residential development is assessed and approved.

Even many residents living within activity centre catchments remain unaware that the new residential planning Codes, the Townhouse and Low-Rise Code and the Mid-Rise Code, will ultimately determine what can be built in their neighbourhoods. The standards in both are lower than the ResCode they replaced.

Only by understanding how these planning changes fit together can communities begin to understand what is at stake.

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