Tottenham (Braybrook – Central West)

Reference

current

Published: February 2025

Last updated: 08 February 2025

The vision for Tottenham (Braybrook – Central West)

The following vision for Tottenham (Braybrook – Central West) 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.

Tottenham (Braybrook – Central West) and the surrounding neighbourhood will evolve into a practical, everyday centre with more homes and better access to daily needs. Its industrial past gives the area a strong sense of identity and resilience.

The centre will continue to provide jobs, shops and community facilities, while nearby streets become more walkable and welcoming. Key roads will keep supporting freight and industrial uses, balancing local life with broader economic activity.

I am in favour of smart urban planning including mixed use residential and commercial developments, engaging public pedestrian spaces and street design that encourages walking and cycling.

Tottenham (Braybrook – Central West) community member

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

Tottenham (Braybrook – Central West) is seen as an underutilised area by the community, with many seeing an opportunity to make the area a more interesting, diverse and mixed-use place to live and visit.

We heard that the community values the Central West Shopping Centre and seek for it to be enhanced, not only as a central point for everyday needs but also as a place to find a mix of activities and social spaces.

That’s why we have applied the large opportunity sites and enclosed shopping centre typologies to two large sites in Tottenham (Braybrook – Central West). These sites of more than 5,000 square metres can provide further retail, employment and housing opportunities in a manner that carefully considers their integration with the surrounding area.

The CRG noted how important trees and green corridors are for supporting a softer, more comfortable public realm for pedestrians, riders and visitors to the Central West Shopping Centre. That’s why we’ve planned for a 4.5 metre landscape setback to the street around the two large sites.

The CRG also highlighted the importance of better pedestrian connectivity. That’s why we have planned for three indicative pedestrian connections leading from the large sites out to the surrounding roads.

This plan includes a select area of the Tottenham (Braybrook – Central West) activity centre. It does not include the surrounding employment land because of the Commercial 2 Zone, which does not allow residential uses.

Middle Footscray to Tottenham 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

Tottenham (Braybrook - Central West) 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 Tottenham, the inner catchment responds to proximity to the train station and Central West Shopping Centre. Community members identified Rupert Street as having higher opportunity than other areas.

The outer catchment responds to the shared user path along the railway line and the facilities at Skinner Reserve.

What we are doing for your community

As part of our work, we've:

applied primary active frontage to South Road and secondary active frontage to Ashley Street to become more welcoming for pedestrians in the future
proposed pedestrian connections to make it easier to walk through the area in the future
applied landscape setbacks to ensure there’s sufficient space for trees, and between development and the main roads
applied key pedestrian street protection to South Road and Ashley Street to ensure sun access to streets.

Refer to the following plans:

Plan 7: Tottenham (Braybrook – Central West) typology, activation and setbacks
Plan 8: Tottenham (Braybrook – Central West) 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): Tottenham (Braybrook – Central West) typology, activation and setbacks (Note: Typology refers to the grouping of different types of buildings; activation refers to the process of turning quiet or underused public spaces into lively and safe areas by encouraging human activity; a setback is the minimum distance a building must be placed away from a property boundary, road, or natural feature.)

Plan 8 (above): Tottenham (Braybrook – Central West) 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.