About the Amendment
The Macaulay urban renewal precinct is located approximately two kilometres north-west of the central city and covers 90 hectares of land within the suburbs of North Melbourne and Kensington. The precinct is also directly north of the Arden urban renewal precinct and the new Arden Station which is part of the Metro Tunnel Project.
The Macaulay Structure Plan 2021 sets out the vision for the renewal of the Macaulay Precinct as a mixed-use, mid-rise neighbourhood with a distinct inner urban character. It provides a framework for future growth and development, including built form and density, open space, street networks, affordable housing, community spaces and development contributions over the next 30 years. The Future Melbourne Committee endorsed the Macaulay Structure Plan on 9 November 2021.For more information about the Macaulay Structure Plan Refresh, please refer to Participate Melbourne.
Macaulay Urban Renewal Precinct Amendment C417 implements the Macaulay Structure Plan 2021 and proposes to introduce new planning controls addressing built form and density, open space, street networks, and affordable housing. Specifically, the Amendment proposes:
- A Special Use Zone (SUZ) that encourages 20 per cent of development to be employment or other non-residential use, mandates a contribution to affordable housing across all land uses, includes ESD requirements, and manages land uses vulnerable to flooding (e.g. child care centres and nursing homes).
- A Design and Development Overlay (DDO) schedule for each of the four Macaulay precincts with requirements for built form, including floor area ratios, building heights, street wall heights, upper level setbacks, active frontages and new connections through street blocks.
- A new schedule to the Parking Overlay to support a reduced reliance on private cars through a maximum car parking rate of zero (with a permit required to vary), adequate provision of bicycle parking and end-of-trip facilities, EV-ready spaces, car-share and accessible spaces.
- A Development Contributions Plan Overlay implementing the Development Contributions Plan, which requires a monetary contribution from developers towards specified infrastructure.
Status
The Future Melbourne Committee considered Amendment C417 on Tuesday 14 June 2022 and endorsed Management’s recommendation to request authorisation from the Minister for Planning to prepare and exhibit Amendment C417 and to seek approval of the proposed planning scheme on an interim basis. Learn more in the meeting agenda (PDF 14.6 MB).
A request for authorisation of Amendment C417 along with a request for interim controls via Amendment C433 have been submitted to the Minister for Planning and we are currently awaiting a decision.