Oakleigh

Reference

current

Published: March 2026

Last updated: 08 March 2026

The vision for Oakleigh

The following vision for Oakleigh 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.

Oakleigh will continue to be one of the area’s most loved and lively destinations. More types of homes will be available for people who want to live close to its famous restaurants, cafés and shops.

At the same time, Oakleigh’s unique character, culture and community spirit will be maintained. Places like Eaton Mall and Warrawee Park will stay at the heart of the community, supporting local events, gatherings and daily life.

Oakleigh is already a model for great pedestrianised streets and thriving local community; it is a great platform to expand on.

Oakleigh community member

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

Oakleigh is a popular destination for food and entertainment for residents and visitors alike with its welcoming atmosphere and distinctive character, making it more than just a local hub.

Beyond the core retail and eating areas, large green open spaces are vital to the Oakleigh community, serving as hubs for social gatherings and sporting activities, with potential for greater activation and use for community events.

The CRG named Eaton Mall, Portman Street, Atherton Road and Chester Street as central gathering spaces, known for their diverse dining offerings and lively environment. Warrawee Park and Jack Edwards Reserve were identified as important green spaces for the community, to participate in recreational traditions such as bocce, as well as sports such as cricket and soccer, reflecting the community’s strong connection with these places.

A community member said that Oakleigh has “… a community feel, love the open spaces, and trees”. This is why we have applied sun access protections to key destinations such as Eaton Mall and for existing and future green spaces, ensuring the community can continue to gather, relax and play in places where sunlight access is maintained.

More specifically, the built form controls applied in Oakleigh recognise the importance of sun protection for key pedestrian streets such as Station Street, Atherton Road and Portman Street. This is achieved through balanced building heights and applying typologies that respond to the existing streetscape and surrounds, while supporting greater residential density for future residents.

We heard from community members how important it is to protect Oakleigh’s unique atmosphere while balancing opportunities for more homes. For this reason, landscape setbacks and requirements for active frontages are applied to main streets and the surrounds of the Oakleigh core.

Carnegie to Oakleigh 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

Oakleigh 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 building heights will gradually decrease. This will allow a transition between the activity centre and the surrounding suburb.

In Oakleigh, the inner catchment responds to bus routes along Atherton Road, Atkinson Street, Hanover Street and Golf Links Avenue. The outer catchment responds to services and Heritage Overlay precincts.

What we are doing for your community

As part of our work, we've:

applied landscape setbacks to Hanover Street and Oxford Street to provide a buffer for pedestrians against vehicular movements
applied sensitive interface setbacks to the south to protect the amenity of residential properties outside of the activity centre core
ensured that Warrawee Park and Pioneer Memorial Park have the highest level of sun access protections
ensured that Eaton Mall has moderate sun access protection because it is important to the community.

Refer to the following plans:

Plan 7: Oakleigh typology, activation and setbacks
Plan 8: Oakleigh 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 7 (above): Oakleigh 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 8: Oakleigh building heights and sun protection

The plans aim to make sure the right types of homes are built in the places they fit best. These are some of the kinds of homes you might see more of in the future.