Delivering Melbourne’s newest sustainable communities: Amendment VC55
Delivering Melbourne's newest sustainable communities will deliver the most significant land use and transport changes that Melbourne has experienced in a generation.
On this page:
- Overview
- Amendment VC55
- Strategic Impact Assessment
- Growth Areas Infrastructure Contribution
- Response to Submissions
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Steps to delivering new communities in the growth area
- Delivering Melbourne’s newest sustainable communities report
Overview
In December 2008 the Government released two integrated policy statements, Melbourne 2030: a planning update – Melbourne @ 5 Million and The Victorian Transport Plan. These documents provide a long-term plan for managing Melbourne’s growth.
Delivering Melbourne’s newest sustainable communities is the culmination of work focussed on land use, transport and environmental initiatives. It takes an integrated approach to land use and transport planning so that infrastructure and essential services will be delivered as new communities as the growth areas develop.
Initiatives being delivered as part of Delivering Melbourne’s newest sustainable communities are:
- A review of the Urban Growth Boundary and the land designated for development, to accommodate around 284,000 of the 600,000 new homes required across Melbourne to accommodate the city’s growing population.
- An alignment for the Regional Rail Link (west of Werribee to Deer Park), which will provide more frequent and reliable regional rail services in Melbourne’s west where country trains reach the metropolitan network and boost the capacity of the metropolitan rail system. Major construction on the Regional Rail Link is expected to start in 2010.
- An alignment for the Outer Metropolitan Ring/E6 Transport Corridor, which will cater for expected increases in the volume of freight and people moving around outer metropolitan Melbourne and Victoria over the coming decades. Construction on the Outer Metropolitan Ring/E6 Transport Corridor is not expected to start before 2020.
- Establishment and management of the proposed grassland reserves in Melbourne’s west to ensure the long-term conservation of a nationally significant and threatened ecosystem, following the Strategic Impact Assessment report.
Delivering Melbourne’s newest sustainable communities was informed by a number of separate but interlinked documents, including independent advice and specialist reports for the Urban Growth Boundary and transport projects, and a Strategic Impact Assessment Report to meet the requirements of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
The planning elements required for these projects are contained in Amendment VC55.
The Minister for Planning has approved and is now seeking parliamentary ratification of Amendment VC55. Subject to Parliament’s approval of the Growth Areas Infrastructure Contribution legislation it will then come into operation.
Where can I find more information?
- Download the Delivering Melbourne’s newest sustainable communities brochure:
Delivering Melbourne's newest sustainable communities brochure - updated 13 November 2009 (PDF - 2.0 MB)
Delivering Melbourne's newest sustainable communities - Accessible version (DOC - 75 KB)
- View the latest maps indicating the land identified as potentially suitable for urban development and non-urban land:
Melbourne Map - updated 13 November 2009 (PDF - 2.4 MB) Land use and transport initiatives - Melbourne's North - updated 13 November 2009 (PDF - 1.7 MB) Land use initiative - Melbourne's South-East (PDF - 826 KB) Land use and transport initiatives - Sunbury (PDF - 960 KB) Land use and transport initiatives - Melbourne's West (PDF - 1.1 MB)
- Download a Property Report by visiting Melbourne Planning Maps Online.
- For background information about the Delivering Melbourne’s newest sustainable communities initiatives, visit www.vic.gov.au/planningmelbourne
Amendment VC55
Amendment VC55 will implement new planning scheme provisions that address the objectives of Delivering Melbourne’s newest sustainable communities and will deliver:
- An expanded Urban Growth Boundary
- New zones for land brought inside the Urban Growth Boundary
- Public Acquisition Overlays for the Regional Rail Link, Outer Metropolitan Ring / E6 Transport Corridor and the two grassland reserves
- Incorporation of the policy elements of Melbourne @ 5 million into the Victoria Planning Provisions
- Provisions that remove the need for a planning permit for the construction of the Regional Rail Link
- New controls in the Victoria Planning Provisions to:
- - Outline what a Growth Areas Framework Plan should include
- Change the definition of metropolitan Melbourne (in planning schemes) to include the expanded growth areas in the Shire of Mitchell, and
- Introduce underlying planning provisions, specifically for the Outer Metropolitan Ring / E6 Transport Corridor.
Where can I find more information?
- View the zoning maps:
Melbourne's North - Zoning map (PDF - 1.7 MB) Melbourne's South East - Zoning map (PDF - 1.4 MB) Sunbury - Zoning map (PDF - 1.5 MB) Melbourne's West - Zoning map (PDF - 1.8 MB)
Detailed planning scheme zone and overlay maps
- Call our information line on 1800 090 789. Staff can answer your questions and send out documents including maps and reports
Strategic Impact Assessment
The Strategic Impact Assessment is an assessment of the impacts arising from an expansion of the Urban Growth Boundary, the Regional Rail Link and the Outer Metropolitan Ring/E6 Transport Corridor on matters covered by the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The Strategic Impact Assessment seeks to identify appropriate mitigation measures for any impacts of these initiatives on matters of national environmental significance.
The Commonwealth Government is currently considering the Program covering the expansion of the Urban Growth Boundary and the alignments for the Regional Rail Link and the Outer Metropolitan Ring / E6 Transport Corridor for endorsement. Following endorsement, the next step will be the approval of actions in response to the Program.
The key outcomes will be:
- Simplified State and Commonwealth biodiversity approvals for the Program early in the planning cycle.
- Increased certainty and reduced cost for development proposals where they meet the conditions of the approvals.
- A ready supply of native vegetation and species offsets that developers will purchase from the Government.
- A commitment by the Victorian Government to enhanced protection of a network of key biodiversity values that are retained inside the Urban Growth Boundary.
- Advance mitigation of the impacts of clearing biodiversity values.
- Strict adherence to the principles and standards required under Victoria's native vegetation policy framework and species regulations.
- A commitment to monitoring and full public reporting on the implementation of the Program and its approval conditions under the Commonwealth legislation.
Growth Areas Infrastructure Contribution
In November 2009 the Government will introduce the Growth Areas Infrastructure Contribution Bill to Parliament. The Growth Areas Infrastructure Contribution is an essential component of the Delivering Melbourne's newest sustainable communities program.
The Growth Areas Infrastructure Contribution will deliver revenue that will help pay for essential State infrastructure and services in the new growth area communities. It will also enable the infrastructure to be delivered sooner. It is estimated that revenue from the Growth Areas Infrastructure Contribution will account for up to 20 per cent of the total cost of new State infrastructure.
The Growth Areas Infrastructure Contribution will only apply to land brought into the existing growth areas since November 2005, and to all land within the new Urban Growth Boundary that is zoned for urban development (i.e. the Urban Growth Zone in the new areas).
The coming into operation of Amendment VC55 is contingent on the passage by Parliament, and the coming into operation, of the Growth Areas Infrastructure Contribution legislation.
Page top
Response to Submissions
Public consultation has been an essential part of the process for determining the revisions to Melbourne’s Urban Growth Boundary; designating new areas for development; and for reserving land for the Regional Rail Link, Outer Metropolitan Ring / E6 Transport Corridor and grassland areas. Public feedback was formally sought at three stages.
This detailed consultation process has informed the development of the proposals before parliament.
The Public Consultation Final Report on Submissions outlines how submissions were considered, where changes were made to the proposals and a summary of issues raised and the Government’s response to those issues.
- Download the Public Consultation Final Report on Submissions
Public Consultation Final Report on Submissions (PDF - 1.9 MB) Public Consultation Final Report on Submissions - Accessible version (DOC - 221 KB) Public Consultation Final Report on Submissions - Pages 1-16 (PDF - 1.8 MB) Public Consultation Final Report on Submissions - Pages 17-28 (PDF - 843 KB) Public Consultation Final Report on Submissions - Pages 29-35 (PDF - 1.7 MB)
All submissions received in stage 2 and 3 of the consultation process will shortly be made available online, subject to privacy requirements.
Frequently asked questions
Download a full list of frequently asked questions:
Frequently Asked Questions (DOC - 198 KB)Steps to delivering new communities in the growth areas
The process undertaken to-date has focussed on delineating an Urban Growth Boundary and land suitable for development within that boundary, and the designation of reservations for the Regional Rail Link, Outer Metropolitan Ring / E6 Transport Corridor and grassland reserves.
This is the first step, in a number of steps, by the Government to deliver new sustainable communities in Melbourne’s growth areas. Further planning is required for each if the initiatives as they are progressively delivered. Tasks will include:
- Biodiversity Conservation Strategies ;
- Growth Area Framework Plans;
- Sub-Regional Species Strategies;
- Precinct Structure Plans;
- Native Vegetation Precinct Plans;
- Green Wedge Management Plans;
- Regional Rail Link: undertaking of actions required by Minister for Planning in response to a decision on a referral under the Environment Effects Act 1978; and
- Outer Metropolitan Ring / E6 Transport Corridor: undertaking of actions required by Minister for Planning in response to a decision on a referral under the Environment Effects Act 1978.
Delivery Melbourne’s newest sustainable communities report
Melbourne’s population is growing fast and the city will be home to five million people earlier than previously anticipated. Melbourne @ 5 million updates the metropolitan strategy: Melbourne 2030: Planning for Sustainable Growth and identifies the need to accommodate an additional 600,000 new dwellings in Melbourne over the next 20 years.
Of the new dwellings required, it is anticipated that 316,000 dwellings will be accommodated in the established areas and 284,000 dwellings will be accommodated in the growth areas of Melbourne.
Download the report
Delivering Melbourne's newest sustainable communities - Full Report1 (PDF - 6.9 MB) Foreword and How you can comment (PDF - 910 KB) Part 1 Setting the scene, Part 2 Next steps (PDF - 353 KB) Part 2 Chapter 3 Assessment of Investigation Areas (pages 17 to 28) (PDF - 174 KB) Part 2 Chapter 4 Melbourne West Investigation Area - Wyndham Growth Area (pages 29 to 37) (PDF - 1.1 MB) Part 2 Chapter 5 Melbourne West Investigation Area - Melton-Caroline Springs Growth Area (pages 38 to 48) (PDF - 1.4 MB) Part 2 Chapter 6 Melbourne North Investigation Area - Sunbury (pages 49 to 57) (PDF - 1.7 MB) Part 2 Chapter 7 Melbourne North Investigation Area - Hume-Mitchell-Whittlesea Growth Area (pages 58 to 70) (PDF - 1.3 MB) Part 2 Chapter 8 Melbourne South-East Investigation Area - Casey-Cardinia Growth Area (pages 71 to 78) (PDF - 1.9 MB) Part 3 Chapters 9 and 10 Assessment of Transport Corridors (pages 79 to 86) (PDF - 134 KB) References (PDF - 49 KB) Accessible Word version - Delivering Melbourne's newest sustainable communities report (DOC - 330 KB)Page top
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.