Melbourne

The Victorian state government has announced 50 new "train and tram" Activity Centres in an effort to deliver more than 300,000 homes across Melbourne by 2051. The proposal is an expansion of the government's ten Activity Centres in Broadmeadows, Camberwell, Chadstone, Epping, Frankston, Moorabbin, Niddrie, North Essendon, Preston and Ringwood, released in April 2024.

The locations of the proposed centres were recommended by the Department of Transport and Planning based on an analysis of transport capacity, access to jobs and services and environmental considerations. The first 25 centres focus on stations that benefit from the Metro Tunnel and high-frequency Frankston, Sandringham, Belgrave/Lilydale and Glen Waverley Lines. All but one of these is based directly on their proximity to a train station.

Premier Jacinta Allen commented, "Building more homes around 50 inner-suburban train stations means young people have more opportunity to rent or buy a place that's directly connected to public transport." In conducting independent analysis, advocacy group YIMBY Melbourne has noted that 23 of the 25 announced centres are in areas of child population decline. According to the organisation, the new centres will "enable more young families to get a foothold in areas where they have been systematically and provably locked out."

In terms of their form and structure, the state government has noted that the planning of each Activity Centre will be unique to each community. According to their media communique, the government intends to engage with councils and locals to understand their priorities and help enhance what's important about their neighbourhood, prior to progressively introducing new planning controls.

"Overall, the vision for train and tram zones is for taller buildings in the immediate 'core' at the station, with gentler, scaled height limits and more low-rise apartments and townhouses alongside existing houses in the walkable catchments surrounding," notes the release. Heritage and landscape overlays will remain in place, and locals residing within 800m of the stations will retain their rights to know, have their say and appeal on new proposals.

The policy has been welcomed by YIMBY Melbourne, whose October 2023 proposal for Melbourne's Missing Middle outlined a vision for mixed-use density concentrated around fixed rail infrastructure. As of 28 October 2024, they've elected another 25 stations that should be prioritised for upzoning, based on their model which favours proximity to the city and potential for new housing adjacent to the station.

The Next 25 lead researcher Paul Spasojevic argued, "A big part of better, more transparent policy is measurement and visualisation." Jonathan O'Brien, lead organiser at YIMBY Melbourne, added "The ambition of the Activity Centres Program is admirable. What our research shows is that it could feasibly be doubled-from 50 to 100 stations on the network-in the near future."

The state government's remaining 25 "train and tram zone" Activity Centres will be announced in late 2024 with the release of their Plan For Victoria.