Melbourne’s population is projected to grow from around 5.2 million to over 8 million by 2050, meaning millions of new homes and new jobs will need to be created throughout Melbourne.

In Yarra, we are planning for this change to make sure new homes and offices are located where existing public transport and other services can be easily accessed (these areas are called ‘Activity Centres’). Appropriately locating new housing in Activity Centres will also help to reduce any negative impacts to existing residential areas (for example; by directing increased traffic toward major roads).

The proposed planning controls (Design and Development Overlays) throughout Fitzroy and Collingwood would manage the built form and design of any new buildings within the Activity Centre areas (including the total building height, how to minimise overshadowing and façade design factors).

Without these Design and Development Overlays, there is no locally specific guidance on the design of new buildings in the Activity Centre areas (for example, no guidance on overall building heights). It is important that we have locally specific planning guidelines in place to ensure new development through Fitzroy and Collingwood is appropriate to each area, and negative impacts to the existing neighbourhoods are minimised.

Before 2021, there was limited guidance for development in Fitzroy and Collingwood. There were no area-wide controls on:

• building heights.
• street wall heights.
• upper level setback, which is how far higher levels should be distanced from the street or backyards.

That is why Yarra has prepared 12 Design and Development Overlays (DDOs) to be consistent with the vision for Fitzroy and Collingwood.

A Design and Development Overlay (DDO) is a planning tool that is applied to areas such as activity centres like precincts and shopping strips that need specific requirements to guide the built form and design of new development.

The scale and density of developments approved and currently being proposed in Yarra’s activity centres has increased substantially in recent years. That’s why we’re using Design and Development Overlays to help guide these potential future developments within the activity centres.

In Yarra, DDOs generally try to achieve a balance between allowing new development and it needing to be sensitive towards heritage buildings, existing houses and backyards and avoiding overshadowing of public spaces like footpaths and parks.

All DDOs still have to comply with other parts of the planning scheme, such as Yarra’s heritage, urban design and sustainable design policies.

A DDO can include built form and design requirements that are mandatory or preferred. A mandatory requirement is a requirement that must be met. There is no opportunity to vary it. For example, you can’t build a six-storey building in an area where a mandatory height of five storeys applies.

Types of built form and design requirements contained in a DDO:

• building height
• street wall height
• setbacks
• overshadowing
• building design
• interface design (laneway, residential, railway)
• public realm frontage

It is important to note that the main purpose of a DDO is to provide built form and design guidance for development within a particular area.

A Design and Development Overlay cannot:

• act as a heritage control
• manage land use
• change property zones
• address other issues such as shop vacancies or housing affordability
• address traffic management concerns
• alter or increase public open space
• alter or increase public transport services

The DDOs seek to ensure any future changes to the area respond to the predominant character of each street (for example: Brunswick Street is a commercial activity centre with a strong heritage streetscape, whereas the back streets of Fitzroy/Collingwood are mixed-use areas with former industrial character).

New development should generally fit in with the existing character of the area and ensure it does not dominate existing heritage buildings. Where there are less heritage buildings, DDOs will ensure that a pedestrian scale is maintained along the street, to make sure buildings don’t become overwhelming. Good outcomes for pedestrians should be achieved, with opposite footpaths and public open spaces protected from overshadowing, and taller parts of buildings distanced from existing low residential buildings behind.

The design of new buildings should provide active ground frontages and avoid harsh, solid walls. The taller a building, the further it will need to be pushed away from low residential areas at the back. The height and shape of new buildings should be designed to preserve the prominence of and view lines to landmark heritage buildings throughout the area.

Each DDO outlines specific maximum building heights, maximum street wall heights, minimum upper level setbacks and other design requirements. A detailed map is contained within each DDO which shows the specific design requirements that apply to each property in the DDO area.

The general default for planning in Victoria is that:

• Requirements such as building heights are mainly discretionary (i.e. they are dependent on context and not mandatory).
• Development and housing are directed towards activity centres (i.e. Smith Street, Brunswick Street, Johnston Street and former industrial areas in between them).
• The preparation of local guidance for requirements such as building height is dependent on a lot of strategic work.

For C271, proposed building heights have been determined through extensive strategic background work, including urban design and heritage analysis. The streetscapes, lot sizes, adjoining low-scale residential areas with backyards, heritage buildings, state and local planning policies and other factors were considered.

In general, lower heights are proposed for areas where heritage buildings are highly consistent, fine-grain and intact and/or lots are small and adjoin low-scale residential areas (i.e. parts of Brunswick, Smith and Gertrude Streets).

Taller heights are proposed where lots are relatively larger, heritage buildings are not as consistent, and low-scale residential areas are not as proximate (i.e. Smith Street near Alexandra Parade and former industrial area between Brunswick, Smith and Johnston Street (i.e. around Kerr and George Street).

Most of Yarra's DDOs contain a mix of preferred and mandatory requirements.

The Victorian Planning system prefers the use of preferred requirements as they provide flexibility to respond to local context and unique urban conditions of a site or an area.

The Department of Transport and Planning has developed a series of planning practice notes to provide guidance on the appropriate use of mandatory and preferred requirements. For further information please check PPN59 and PPN60.

Mandatory requirements are applied only when they are seen as 'absolutely necessary' to achieve the preferred built form outcome or where 'exceptional circumstances' warrant their introduction. Introduction of any mandatory requirements must be based on robust and comprehensive strategic work.

An activity centre is usually based around a shopping strip. They are locations with good access to services, employment opportunities, public transport and other amenities. Yarra has a well-established network of activity centres that play a key role in accommodating most of the commercial and residential growth of Yarra. You can view Yarra’s activity centres in Clause 11.03-1L Activity Centres of the Yarra Planning Scheme.

The draft Amendment aims to ensure that new buildings and developments are sensitive towards heritage buildings and have a minimal impact on both residential and public spaces. Most areas in Fitzroy and Collingwood are already in a heritage overlay.

It also seeks to address gaps in the current Schedule to the Heritage Overlay by introducing two new heritage overlays (HO) to the Gasometer Hotel and Victoria Parade East Precinct:

• HO506 - Gasometer Hotel.
• HO507 - Victoria Parade East Precinct.

At the moment, there are temporary requirements (seven interim DDOs) that apply to some areas in Fitzroy and Collingwood. These controls will expire, unless extended, on 30 June 2025.

The Minister for Planning approved Amendment C270yara and C288yara on 27 August 2021 and 22 October 2021 to the Yarra Planning Scheme to apply 7 interim DDOs to parts of Fitzroy and Collingwood. The interim controls have been used to manage development while permanent requirements were prepared via Amendment C271yara.

You can find all approved amendment documentation for these interim controls on the Department of Transport and Planning’s website at the following links; C270yara and C288yara.

There will be no immediate impact on landowners/occupiers and current planning permits. Yarra currently has a number of interim DDO’s that are already in the planning scheme. These apply to live planning permit applications and any future planning permit applications, until the permanent DDOs are introduced into the Yarra Planning Scheme.

The other tools in the Planning Scheme will continue to apply. For example, if your property is also covered by a Heritage Overlay, these requirements would remain in place and also need to be taken into account when preparing a planning permit application.

As part of the built form and design requirements included in the 12 DDOs there is a requirement about access, parking and loading bays.

This requirement aims to provide a safe and accessible environment for pedestrians and to limit potential conflict between vehicle movements and pedestrian activity.

There are Victorian Government requirements that guide the amount of car parking a development needs to provide, with the ability for variances. A DDO cannot control car parking amounts.

For specific information on this requirement in each of the 12 DDOs go to Section 2.10.

The proposed DDOs generally do not apply to public housing estates.

For more information on projects that directly impact the public housing properties please check Homes Victoria's website.

The objective of the Committee is to provide consistent advice in a transparent, simple, timely and more efficient process. The process would allow our existing interim controls (and current requests) to be translated into permanent controls in the Planning Scheme.

At the Council Meeting on 2 March 2021, Council resolved to request the Minister for Planning to appoint a Standing Advisory Committee to report on Yarra Planning Scheme provisions for activity centres and built form and related matters as specifically requested by Council. You can read the minutes from the meeting here.

In accordance with the Terms of Reference for the Yarra Activity Centre Standing Advisory Committee (YACSAC) and if the Minister resolves to refer the matter to the Committee, all submitters will have an opportunity to present their submission at a public hearing. Further information on the Standing Advisory Committee process can be found on our website.

The following dates have been set to consider this amendment:

• Directions Hearing: the week commencing 22 September 2025.
• Committee Hearing: the week commencing 27 October 2025.