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                    Fishermans Bend urban renewal

                    Aerial view of Fishermans Bend precinct.
                    Fishermans Bend is Australia’s largest urban renewal project covering approximately 480 hectares in the heart of Melbourne. Fishermans Bend consists of five precincts spread across two municipalities – the City of Melbourne and the City of Port Phillip.

                    ​​​​​​​​It is expected that by 2050, it will be home to approximately 80,000 residents and provide employment for up to 80,000 people.

                    The transformation of Fishermans Bend is guided by the Fishermans Bend Framework; a plan for parks, schools, roads, transport and community facilities and services to ensure liveability as the precinct grows over the next 30 years.

                    In 2022-23, we will invest around $550,000 on renewal works including roadways and flood mitigation and around $150,000 on maintenance works on municipality facilities. 

                    Precinct planning 

                    The City of Melbourne is continuing to work with the Victorian Government's Fishermans Bend Taskforce, the City of Port Phillip and other government agencies to progress the development of detailed Precinct Implementation Plans.  

                    In 2019 community feedback was sought to guide the development of the Precinct Implementation Plans, which will focus on movement and access, ecology and open space, activity and land uses, and built form and heritage. Precinct Implementation Plans will be complemented by a robust infrastructure and funding strategy, as well as appropriate governance arrangements for precinct delivery.

                    The five precincts in Fishermans Bend are: 

                    City of Melbourne:

                    • Lorimer
                    • National Employment and Innovation Cluster (NEIC)

                    City of Port Phillip:

                    • Montague
                    • Wirraway
                    • Sandridge.

                    The Montague and NEIC Precinct Implementation Plans are scheduled for release in 2022-23.

                    Guiding the vision and strategic direction for the NEIC is the Victorian Government’s Advancing Manufacturing – the Fishermans Bend Opportunity document. By 2050 it is envisaged that the NEIC will be internationally renowned as a centre for innovation in advancing manufacturing, engineering and design.  

                    By supporting a culture that fosters experimentation and learning from doing, the NEIC will push design boundaries through a continual process of prototyping, testing and refining ideas. It will be a place that celebrates risk taking and accepts failure as essential ingredients to innovation.

                    For more information and to view an interactive map of Fishermans Bend, visit the Victorian Government’s online engagement platform or read more about the project on the Fishermans Bend website.

                    Fishermans Bend Innovation Precinct

                    Located in the heart of the National Employment and Innovation Cluster (NEIC) is the Fishermans Bend Innovation Precinct, which includes the Victorian Government owned former General Motors Holden (GMH) site and University of Melbourne future engineering and architecture campus.

                    In May 2021, the Victorian Government announced a $179.4 million funding package to kick-start the delivery of Fishermans Bend Innovation Precinct, over the next three years. This early investment will be a catalyst to drive the confidence of key industry education and research organisations to grow the advanced manufacturing vision in the broader NEIC.

                    Map of Fisherman's Bend Urban Renewal Area

                    The Innovation Precinct will sit within the broader Fishermans Bend area.

                    Gateway to GMH

                    The City of Melbourne is working in partnership with the Victorian Government on the planning, design and delivery of the 'Gateway to GMH' project. 

                    Focusing on the 230-hectare NEIC, home to the former GMH (General Motors Holden) site, the project will deliver a range of works on Turner Street and is the first step in transforming this space into a key multi-modal movement corridor from the former GMH site through to the central city and other innovation precincts. 

                    Gateway to GMH has four areas of focus:

                    • Accessibility – a bike and pedestrian path connecting Lorimer Street to Salmon Street along Turner Street to improve access and safety for pedestrians and cyclists
                    • Creative Placemaking – creative and engaging experiences including the creation of a temporary placemaking hub to host events and activities 
                    • Greening – planting to enable a more mature tree canopy cover 
                    • Digital – digital infrastructure to support future innovation within the renewal precinct, such as sensors, smart poles and technology that integrates with art 

                    This project is a trial project for the future NEIC, and will act as a catalyst for the longer term transformation of the precinct into a centre for innovation in advanced manufacturing, engineering and design. 

                    These works have been funded through the $2.7b building works package announced by the Victorian Government in May 2020 and will be delivered by City of Melbourne in partnership with the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions (DJPR). For more information, visit Gateway to GMH – Participate Melbourne

                    Fishermans Bend Innovation Challenge 

                    The Fishermans Bend Innovation Challenge presents a unique opportunity to explore how the creative use of emerging technology and data in the area could benefit and enable resilience for businesses, communities and individuals.   

                    We’re inviting all eligible entrepreneurs, universities, researchers, start-ups, scale-ups and established organisations to be part of history and pitch their ideas and contribute to this thriving new precinct.   

                    For more information visit Participate Melbourne.
                    Fishermans Bend Heritage Review

                    Exhibition of Amendment C394 (permanent controls) is now open until 8 July. Visit Participate Melbourne for more information and to make a submission.

                    Background

                    Fishermans Bend is identified by the Victorian Government as a key part of the extended central city in Plan Melbourne, its long term strategy for metropolitan Melbourne.

                    In July 2012, the Victorian Government rezoned Fishermans Bend (then made up of Lorimer, Montague, Wirraway and Sandridge) to Capital City Zone. Lorimer is within the City of Melbourne.

                    In September 2013, the Victorian Government released the Fishermans Bend Urban Renewal Area Draft Vision and Interim Design Guidelines for public consultation. These documents provided a vision for how Fishermans Bend could look in 2050 and outlined the overarching strategic directions and key moves needed to realise the vision.

                    The City of Melbourne’s response to the Draft Vision and Design Guidelines was generally supportive, however we did propose some changes. Our response was endorsed by the Future Melbourne Committee. For more information see the report to the Future Melbourne Planning Committee.

                    In July 2014, the Metropolitan Planning Authority released the Fishermans Bend Strategic Framework Plan. This plan provided high-level guidance on the development of Fishermans Bend.

                    In April 2015, the new Minister for Planning announced changes to Fishermans Bend, including a review of the Fishermans Bend Strategic Framework Plan, establishing a Ministerial Advisory Committee and including the 230 hectare Employment Precinct in the Fishermans Bend Urban Renewal Area.

                    In July 2015, the Fishermans Bend Ministerial Advisory Committee was announced, issuing a report of 40 recommendations to the Minister in October 2015. In February 2016, the Minister for Planning adopted 34 of the recommendations in full and six recommendations in part.

                    One of the first recommendations to be acted on was to establish the Fishermans Bend Taskforce, to lead the planning of the Fishermans Bend Urban Renewal Area.

                    In October 2017, the draft Fishermans Bend Framework was released by the Victorian Government outlining the future direction of development across the area. The City of Melbourne’s response to the draft framework (PDF) was endorsed at the Council Meeting on Tuesday 12 December 2017.

                    Submissions on the draft Framework and proposed planning scheme amendment GC81 were considered by a specially appointed Planning Review Panel (Terms of Reference (PDF 173.6 KB). The Panel provided a report of recommendations to the Minister for Planning in July 2018 to inform the final Framework and Planning Controls.

                    In August 2018, the Victorian Government announced the formation of a dedicated Fishermans Bend Development Board to guide the transformation of the urban renewal area, as well as a Mayors Forum including representation from City of Melbourne Councillors.

                    In October 2018, the Victorian Government released the final Fishermans Bend Framework, providing a plan for parks, schools, roads, transport and community facilities and services to ensure the liveability of the precinct as it grows over the next 30 years.

                    View the framework and planning controls.

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