Altona North – Comprehensive Development Plan and Planning Scheme Amendment – Hobsons Bay City Council

Altona North Case Study
Altona North Case Study

The Altona North Comprehensive Development Plan and Planning Scheme Amendment obtained VPA resources to the value of $342,500 in December 2016 from the Metropolitan Established funding stream of Streamlining for Growth.

The amendment was gazetted on 24 September 2018. The Amendment incorporates the Altona North Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) August 2018 and Altona North Development Contributions Plan (DCP) August 2018 and amends and applies various planning controls to implement these plans over land generally bordered by New Street, Kyle Road, Blackshaws Road and the West Gate Freeway, in Altona North and South Kingsville.

The Altona North CDP will unlock the development potential for a new mixed-use community, including approximately 3,000 new dwellings within a strategically located urban renewal area. The CDP will provide greater planning certainty leading to streamlined planning approvals process and unlock private sector development investment on the site.

The project confirmed a viable model for Victorian Planning Authority’s (VPA) future planning of strategic sites; namely that CDPs can be used as planning tool to guide the redevelopment of new, mixed-use precincts. This innovative project provides a ‘one stop shop’ for planning approvals for developers of the site. It will ultimately unlock 66ha of industrial land (with potentially 1,000+ new jobs in the retail, service and office sector) provided via provision of 10,000m2 floor space for employment purposes.

This project unlocks 3,000 new dwellings for Altona North, to develop over the next 20 years, with provision of up to 5% affordable housing on site (equivalent to approximately 3ha).

The project will facilitate the provision of 8.9ha of new open space in an area currently under-supplied with public open space.

In the long term, the project will result in developer funding of key transport and community infrastructure to the value of $55.1M.

This project has been with Council since 2008. With the Streamlining for Growth funding the VPA has been able to bring it to a conclusion with gazettal of the amendment due in first half of 2018.

REPLICABILITY – The project has multiple benefits for the VPA and Hobsons Bay City Council in terms of providing a model for future redevelopment of former industrial lands. This includes the refinement of statutory documents to guide redevelopment.