Urbis Think Tank
Melbourne’s “logical inclusions” process for growth areas can be improved with smart analysis
The Melbourne Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) is currently being reviewed to assess certain properties that could be added as “logical inclusions”. This process has received significant media attention, particularly as the process relates to some of the borders with Melbourne’s “green wedges”.
The criteria being used by the Minister are that the land must meet three standards:
- Be located within a growth area municipality.
- Be adjacent to or on the existing Urban Growth Boundary
- Be proposed for residential or employment development
If the land does meet these standards, it will then be assessed against consistency with the State Planning Policy Framework and any relevant Ministerial Directions plus an assessment against 12 categories of constraints and opportunities including biodiversity, heritage, landscape features and transport.
Recently, Urbis were engaged in regard to a property that could be included within the “logical inclusions”. On first sight, it appeared that there was too much biodiversity on the site. The red areas on this map show high constraint areas, and the yellow areas are moderate constraint areas. However, despite these obvious constraints, there is clearly a significant developable area highlighted in green.
In addition, the land is located in a strategic location that is very suited to residential development. As a result, Urbis’ Planning and Urban Design teams conducted analysis to identify if part of the site could be utilised for development.
The result was an intelligent design that meets the Minister’s criteria. It shows that modern design approaches enable a more targeted approach to urban planning than may have been anticipated by Melbourne’s earlier designers. By using these new tools, we are now able to merge the twin objectives of biodiversity management with increased housing supply.
Directors: Brendan Rogers & Peter Haack