North Brighton

Reference

current

Published: March 2026

Last updated: 08 March 2026

The vision for North Brighton

The following vision for North Brighton train and tram zone activity centre is built from the Statement of Advice prepared by a Community Reference Group (CRG) made up of local residents.

North Brighton will become a more vibrant centre where its rich history is celebrated. Bay Street will welcome shops, cafés and local businesses, adding new energy and reasons to visit.

At the same time, the strong community feel will remain, supported by walkable streets, inviting public spaces and well-designed homes that help people feel connected and included.

We need to have more housing options in areas people want to live.

North Brighton community member

What we understand about place and how we’ve addressed it

North Brighton is known for its historical features and welcoming environment, where residents value the sense of community. Bay Street’s charm comes from its heritage streetscape, which showcases its history and gives it a unique sense of character and identity.

The commercial opportunities and experiences support the diverse range of local businesses, further strengthening the community connection. Bay Street itself is relatively flat, which supports easy and enjoyable walking, creating a bustling streetscape. To ensure Bay Street maintains its high level of activity, we have applied primary active frontages to all of Bay Street.

The CRG noted how important the distinct village feel and heritage protections are for North Brighton. That’s why we’ve applied the Heritage Main Street typology along Bay Street, between Clarkson Avenue and Warriston Street, already covered by a Heritage Overlay. This will ensure future development maintains and protects existing heritage along Bay Street.

Comparatively lower building and street wall heights on Bay Street will also protect the village feel of the street.

We heard that the community is generally supportive of development being located along Bay Street.

North Brighton core and catchment map

A graphical representation of the scale of density within activity centre areas. — Scale of density from core to the outer catchment

Core	Inner catchment	Outer catchment
Various heights between six and 16 storeys in most centres, with potential for taller heights in some places in the larger centres	Up to four storeys, and up to six storeys on blocks larger than 1000m2	Up to three storeys, and up to four storeys on blocks larger than 1000m2

North Brighton core and catchment explained

The core is the central part of the train and tram zone activity centre, closest to public transport, jobs and services. This area is best suited to accommodate more homes.

The catchment is the surrounding area within approximately 10 minutes’ walk of the core (around 800 metres).

As you move away from the commercial and community core of the train and tram zone activity centre, we expect that the proposed building heights will gradually decrease. This will allow a transition between the activity centre and the surrounding suburb.

In North Brighton, the inner catchment responds to Bay Street and the station. The outer catchment responds to Heritage Overlay precincts. Its extent is limited by the Nepean Highway.

What we are doing for your community

As part of our work, we've:

applied primary active frontages along Bay Street to promote further ground floor activation and passive surveillance
retained heritage overlays and applied typologies that respond to heritage features. The Heritage Main Street Core typology has been applied to protect and enhance the heritage buildings in the activity centre core
identified Bay Street as a key pedestrian street to protect sun access to footpaths and support people spending time here
specified a maximum building height of six storeys for the majority of Bay Street, to respect and enhance the heritage character of this street.

Refer to the following plans:

Plan 3: North Brighton typology, activation and setbacks
Plan 4: North Brighton building heights and sun protection

Plans

The built form outcomes and building heights for the activity centre core are set out on the following plans:

Plan 3 (above): North Brighton typology, activation and setbacks (Note: Typology refers to a building type that is suitable for a particular set of lot types and locations. Street activation requires new buildings to provide open and inviting shopfronts to encourage lively and safe streets. A setback is the minimum distance a building must be placed away from a property boundary, road, or natural feature.)

Plan 4 (above): North Brighton building heights and sun protection

The plans support the right types of homes being built in the places they fit best. These are some of the kinds of homes you might see more of in the future.