By Matthew Sims
Maribyrnong council has agreed to participate in a pilot project to develop high quality low-rise apartment buildings in middle-ring suburbs.
At the Maribyrnong City Development Delegated Committee meeting on Tuesday, May 24, councillors approved a notice of motion to endorse the council’s participation in the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning’s [DELWP] Future Homes project, subject to a number of changes.
A joint venture between DELWP and the Office of the Victorian Government Architect [OVGA], Maribyrnong council would join the two-year pilot project alongside Monash council.
DELWP places and precincts manager Amy Mak said the goals of the project were to increase the supply of low-rise apartment buildings in middle-ring suburbs, provide planning certainty and produce high-quality, liveable and sustainable apartment buildings.
“The project delivers on a Victorian government election commitment and that’s to create apartment blueprints that become world leaders in design, sustainability and liveability,” she said.
“Future Homes isn’t about imposing apartment developments onto Maribyrnong.
“What we are trying to do is improve the quality of the three-storey apartment buildings that you are seeing.”
Ms Mak said there were four designs for three-story apartments outlined in the project.
“They’re highly replicable and exemplary in every sense,” she said.
“We’re making them family-friendly, we’re making sure people can age in place gracefully…we’re making homes more sustainable so that they’re comfortable for people to live in.”
Ms Mak said there were 13 planning controls outlined in the project planning process to ensure there were no arguments about compliance.
“In addition to quality, Future Homes is about certainty and it’s about directing growth,” she said.
“By directing or restricting where Future Homes applications can go, this gives council and the community some certainty about where they could see these applications.”
Cr Simon Crawford said he was “quite excited” about the potential benefits for the project.
“It’s a collaboration between government, council and hopefully, developers,” he said.
“I think we support development if it’s done well.”
Deputy mayor Sarah Carter said she supported the project due to one of its aims being to provide places where people could age gracefully.
“I think one of the things that we see from gentrification…is seeing people who can no longer afford to stay,” she said.
After the two year pilot, DELWP would review the provision, with input from the OVGA and Maribyrnong and Monash councils.
Details: www.vic.gov.au/future-homes
