Growth Area Planning


Latest News

New Urban Growth Zone
Amendment VC48 to the Victoria Planning Provisions and all planning schemes introduces a new Urban Growth Zone and Minister's Direction No. 12 to facilitate rezoning of land for homes in growth areas.

Urban Development Program 2007 Annual Report
The Urban Development Program 2007 Annual Report has been released. This report updates forecasts on the supply of land for residential and industrial purposes in Melbourne.


Growth Areas Authority

A Growth Areas Authority has been appointed by the Minister for Planning to oversee planning and development in Melbourne’s five growth areas. The Authority includes: Chris Banks AM (Chair), Peter Seamer (CEO), Felix Blatt, Frank King, Carol Schwartz and Rob Spence. The Growth Areas Authority will work with councils, developers and government agencies to:
  • plan new suburbs in a way that enhances quality of life for residents, creates local jobs and is environmentally sustainable
  • create affordable housing and a greater range and choice of housing
  • plan for infrastructure and services as new development occurs to meet the needs of the community.
The Authority is an independent statutory body. Further information is available from Growth Areas Authority.

Select the links below to download A plan for Melbourne's growth areas:

RTF Icon A plan for Melbourne's growth areas (RTF - 360 KB)

PDF Icon Cover (PDF - 140 KB)
PDF Icon pages 2-9 (PDF - 534 KB)
PDF Icon pages 10-21 (PDF - 1.3 MB)
PDF Icon pages 22-25 (Casey-Cardinia) (PDF - 1.0 MB)
PDF Icon pages 26-29 (Hume) (PDF - 1.0 MB)
PDF Icon pages 30-33 (Melton) (PDF - 878 KB)
PDF Icon pages 34-37 (Whittlesea) (PDF - 942 KB)
PDF Icon pages 38-41 (Wyndham) (PDF - 900 KB)
PDF Icon pages 42-44 (PDF - 467 KB)

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Urban growth boundary changes

PDF Icon Map of the Urban Growth Boundary (PDF - 609 KB)

PDF Icon Fact Sheet (PDF - 40 KB)

The urban growth boundary is a tool that the government introduced in 2002 to help contain outward growth. Melbourne 2030 set an interim boundary to protect Melbourne’s highly valued farming, conservation and recreation areas, but indicated that the boundary around the five growth areas would be subject to review in light of growth area development needs in the longer term. The Smart Growth Committees carried out the review during 2004-05.

On advice from the committees about future development, and the government’s commitment to maintain a 15-year minimum land supply for housing and industrial development, the urban growth boundary has been amended. The urban growth boundary changes are detailed in the planning scheme amendments approved by the Minister for Planning in November 2005, ratified by Parliament and indicated on the growth area framework plans in "A plan for Melbourne’s growth areas". Twelve new major activity centres have been identified in the planning of the growth areas. The new major activity centres are:

Casey-Cardinia
Hume
Melton
Whittlesea
Wyndham
Casey Central, Hampton Park, Officer
Craigieburn, Craigieburn Town Centre, Greenvale
Toolern
Mernda
Boardwalk, Laverton, Manor Lakes, Truganina


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Fact sheets

Select the links below to download fact sheets:

PDF Icon Changes to the urban growth boundary (PDF - 458 KB)
PDF Icon Creation of a Growth Areas Authority (PDF - 462 KB)
PDF Icon Protecting the environment (PDF - 456 KB)
PDF Icon Prosperous local economies (PDF - 462 KB)
PDF Icon Development contributions (PDF - 462 KB)
PDF Icon A plan for the Casey-Cardinia growth area (PDF - 740 KB)
PDF Icon A plan for the Hume growth area (PDF - 803 KB)
PDF Icon A plan for the Melton-Caroline Springs growth area (PDF - 769 KB)
PDF Icon A plan for the Whittlesea growth area (PDF - 747 KB)
PDF Icon A plan for the Wyndham growth area (PDF - 772 KB)


Please note: Document(s) on this page are presented in PDF format. If you do not have the Adobe Reader, you can download a copy free from the Adobe web site.

Web Site Updates

DPCD's websites are progressively being updated to reflect the changes following the establishment of the department. This means you will continue to see some references to the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) as changes are being made.