Public transport hubs vital for Melbourne

THE opportunity for Melbourne residents to buy homes closer to public transport routes is about to get easier.

For too long, many Melbourne suburbs have experienced slow housing growth, despite having some of the best access to public transport, jobs and services in Victoria.

It means young people are being priced out.

The Victorian Government is releasing the final planning controls for 23 train and tram zones in inner and middle suburbs and the final precinct structure plans of the six new suburban rail loop stations.

These include:

• Eight located along the Frankston Line – Hawksburn, Toorak, Armadale, Malvern, Glen Huntly, Ormond, Bentleigh and Mentone stations
• Five along the new Metro Tunnel corridor – Caulfield, Springvale, Noble Park, Yarraman and Dandenong stations
• Four along the Sandringham Line – South Yarra, Prahran, Windsor and Elsternwick stations
• Three along the Belgrave and Lilydale lines – Blackburn, Nunawading and Mitcham stations
• Two along the Alamein Line – Riversdale/Willison and Ashburton
• One along a major tram corridor in Toorak Village, serviced by Route 58.

The government said these new planning controls make it easier to build homes by giving certainty about what can be built and where. It also stops homes from getting caught up in red tape.

In the immediate ‘core’ of the train and tram zones, controls allow for higher heights depending on the location.

Buildings that meet planning rules in the core will be ‘deemed to comply’ – meaning they can’t be sent to VCAT, speeding up approvals.

Two rounds of community consultation, backed by more than 30,000 people, helped to directly shape the final plans, including changes to height limits, greener streetscapes and stronger infrastructure planning.

Work on the two inner Melbourne train and tram zones in both Melbourne and Yarra city councils will be finalised soon.

Melbourne’s train and tram zones will help unlock capacity for more than 300,000 homes in these areas by 2051.

The suburban rail loop will slash travel times, cut congestion and connect people to Monash and Deakin by rail for the first time.

It will also deliver 70,000 more homes across Cheltenham, Clayton, Monash, Glen Waverley, Burwood and Box Hill.

Minister for planning Sonya Kilkenney said the status quo is not an option.

“We need to deliver more housing choice close to trains, trams, schools and jobs,” she said.

Nick Staikos, minister for the suburban rail loop, is buoyant about the progress.

“By 2050, Melbourne will be the size of London and the suburban rail loop is critical in catering for this growth – building more homes closer to world class public transport,” he said.

“We can’t keep building further out. The suburban rail loop will take pressure off the outer suburbs and give young Victorians the opportunity to buy a home closer to where they grew up.”