At the Council Meeting on Tuesday 12 September, Councillors considered the feedback received on the draft Cremorne Urban Design Framework (UDF) after the consultation at the end of 2022. Council has also considered responses to the feedback and a revised UDF that details the next steps for the precinct.

What is the Cremorne Urban Design Framework?

The UDF is designed to guide the growth, development, and character of Cremorne. This will help us ensure the area meets the need of Cremorne’s growing population while remaining an attractive and vibrant area to live and work. It aims to build on the things that residents, workers and visitors love about Cremorne and strives to make it even better.

The UDF identifies:

• opportunities for new public spaces
• better connections to the Yarra River
• improvements in public transport
• improvements to Cremorne’s streets to make walking and cycling easier
• planning controls to guide new development and protect heritage building

What has changed within the UDF?

In response to your feedback, we’ve:

• Conducted a comprehensive review of the street and movement options to create some new alternatives. This includes creating a revised Future Movement Network, changes to street sections and updated designs for the five identified hotspots. We’ve also continued discussions with the Department of Transport and Planning to make sure these transport options are viable long term.
• Undertaken work on the built form recommendations for Cremorne. This includes:
  • adding criteria to assess preferred building heights
  • encouraging street setbacks for all sites across Cremorne
  • limiting development to construction to one side wall only on narrow sites
  • adding a new action to undertake a desktop survey to identify sites of potential historical archaeological significance
  • identifying 44 character buildings to be retained moving forward

What happens next?

Councillors resolved to request the Minister for Planning to approve interim built form provisions via a Ministerial amendment and request consent to formally exhibit permanent planning provisions. This will start the formal planning scheme amendment process. See the infographic below to better understand how this process will work moving forward:

A further round of consultation will occur early next year to finalise the UDF and exhibit the proposed permanent planning provisions. We will conduct this stage of consultation once we receive approval from the Victorian Government.