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                    Amendment C308: Urban Design in Central Melbourne

                    A cafe with a wall of floor-to-ceiling steel-framed windows
                    Amendment C308 introduces a revised urban design policy as a Design and Development Overlay, along with a complementary illustrative guide, the Central Melbourne Design Guide.

                    Amendment C308 was approved by the Minister for Planning on 15 August 2021 and published in the Victorian Government Gazette on 30 September 2021.

                    About the amendment

                    City of Melbourne has undertaken a review of the current urban design policies in the Melbourne Planning Scheme which apply to the central city and Southbank.

                    Amendment C308 proposes a new approach to urban design policy, including a new overlay which consolidates the existing planning scheme provisions and brings them in line with best practice. The amendment also includes a new Central Melbourne Design Guide which helps the community, developers and planners to understand the policy requirements within the Melbourne Planning Scheme.

                    The objective of this amendment is to improve the quality of urban design outcomes in private development in the central city and Southbank.

                    Focus areas include:

                    • limitations on above ground parking to maximise active uses in the lower 20m of a building
                    • new requirements for building services (utilities) at the ground level of a building
                    • extension of the successful active frontage requirements to new areas of the city, including Southbank
                    • new requirements to focus more specifically on the design detail of the lower levels of a building, to ensure high quality, human scale environments.

                    Find out more about the Central Melbourne Design Guide or download the full guide below:

                    ​Current status

                    A Panel hearing to consider submissions and the Amendment was held in February/March 2019. The panel delivered its report in May 2019 supporting the amendment and stating that the panel: 'endorse the work Council has done in preparing this complex Amendment and find that it is sound, warranted and will add value in achieving high urban design standards for Central Melbourne.'

                    Council considered the recommendations of the independent panel at its meeting on 19 November 2019 and recommended Amendment C308 be adopted and sent to the Minister for Planning for approval.

                    The Minister for Planning approved Amendment C308 on 15 August 2021.

                    For more information please refer to Participate Melbourne.

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