442-450 Auburn Road and 9 Bills Street Hawthorn

What the draft Amendment does

The draft Amendment proposes to rezone the land and apply a framework to guide future use and development of the University of Melbourne’s former Hawthorn campus. This will enable its sale to a private entity and facilitate its future redevelopment for predominantly residential purposes.

Specifically, the draft Amendment proposes to make the following changes to the Boroondara Planning Scheme:

• Rezone the land from Public Use Zone, Schedule 2 (Education) to Residential Growth Zone, to reflect that the land is surplus to the needs of a Victorian Government tertiary education facility (University of Melbourne) and to enable its sale to a private entity.
• Introduce and apply a new Residential Growth Zone schedule (Schedule 2) to the land, applying a mandatory maximum building height requirement of 27 metres.
• Apply the Development Plan Overlay and introduce and apply a new Schedule (Schedule 4) to provide a framework to guide future residential use and development of the land.
• Apply the Environmental Audit Overlay to the land to ensure that any significant effects the environment may have on the future use or development of the land are identified and mitigated.
• Amend Clause 15.01-5L (Neighbourhood Character) to reflect the change in zoning and exempt the land from the policy’s application, as specific guidance is provided under proposed DPO4.

The draft Development Plan Overlay Schedule requires that a development plan be prepared for the site showing, amongst other things:

• The development of the land with a series of predominantly residential buildings ranging from three to seven storeys in height.
• The retention of several existing mature canopy trees.
• A network of pedestrian links and publicly accessible open spaces.
• The provision of at least 10% affordable housing.

A draft development plan is exhibited alongside the draft amendment material and supporting documents.

The Boroondara City Council will be the responsible authority for determining future planning permit applications before any development could commence.

If you would like to discuss this matter further, please contact Huw Wilson, Senior Planner, Development Facilitation, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning via email at huw.wilson@delwp.vic.gov.au.