West Footscray

Reference

current

Published: March 2026

Last updated: 08 March 2026

The vision for West Footscray

The following vision for Middle Footscray 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.

West Footscray will offer a range of housing choices that fit comfortably within its well-loved streets. The busy local shops will continue to support a day-and-night lifestyle that attracts both residents and visitors.

Clarke Street Pop-up Park and other local facilities will remain easy to reach on foot, by bike or on public transport. Development will blend old and new in a way that feels true to the area’s character.

I believe greater density, supported by high quality urban planning and design would create a more vibrant West Footscray.

West Footscray community member

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

West Footscray is valued for its mix of old and new buildings, and its rich, textured streetscape, especially along Barkly Street. This is why we have planned for a mix of typologies and building heights, allowing for a range of design outcomes and housing opportunities.

The CRG noted how important active, busy streets with passive surveillance and sun access are for a vibrant, safe and walkable street life during the day and the night. That is why we have planned for primary active frontages along the main section of Barkly Street, as well as key pedestrian street sun access protection to ensure sunshine reaches the street.

The CRG supports a maximum building height of six storeys on the north side of Barkly Street, with careful integration of taller buildings in appropriate non-residential locations, for example the existing car yards on Barkly Street.

We heard that the community is generally supportive of medium density development with taller buildings located closer to the train station, as long as buildings still allow sunshine to homes and open spaces.

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

West Footscray 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 West Footscray, the inner catchment responds to the proximity to West Footscray and Middle Footscray stations. The outer catchment responds to heritage overlay precincts, the tram on Droop Street, and the strip of open space and facilities along Essex Street.

What we are doing for your communit

As part of our work, we've:

applied primary active frontages to main section of Barkly Street
applied sensitive interface setbacks to protect residential properties outside of the core
applied limited sensitivities typology close to the train station to acknowledge the greater off-corridor opportunity in this location
applied a maximum building height of up to six storeys to the northern side of Barkly Street, to maintain sun access
applied key pedestrian street protection along sections of Barkly Street (east of Warleigh Road) to maintain sun access.

Refer to the following plans:

Plan 5: West Footscray typology, activation and setbacks
Plan 6: West Footscray 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 5 (above): West Footscray 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 6 (above): West Footscray 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.