Big Win for Maribyrnong: Council abandons heritage overlay

Key points

• Council abandoned the scheme because “financial impacts on property owners outweigh the benefits associated with heritage protection in this instance”.
• The overlay was broadly opposed by residents, who fought for control of their own land and homes
• Jonathan O’Brien, Lead Organiser: “This is an enormous win for the current and future Maribyrnong community. We hope this marks the end of Melbourne’s addiction to heritage overlays, and the beginning of councils embracing growth and housing abundance.”

Full Release

YIMBY Melbourne applauds the Maribyrnong City Council for voting unanimously to abandon Planning Scheme Amendment C172.

The proposed amendment would have imposed strict controls on almost 900 houses.Many of these homes are owned by long-time residents, and many more by young families just entering the property market.

The abandonment of the overlay means that all residents retain control over what they do with their homes, and will leave the door open to development in the future, as the community grows. 

Had the overlay passed, many restrictions imposed would have included strict limits on any changes visible from the street, and a complete ban on street-facing solar panels.

Residents also would have had to seek more costly permits and heritage consultations todo most kinds of extensions on their houses. As reported by The Age, and echoed by many residents who spoke with YIMBY Melbourne, the temporary overlay imposed by Council has already cost families thousands in fees and compliance costs.

“We see heritage overlays as an overwhelmingly bad policy,” says Jonathan O’Brien, LeadOrganiser of YIMBY Melbourne.

“While individual buildings, such as Maribyrnong’s own Sun Theatre and Footscray TownHall, make sense to conserve, lumping hundreds of properties together and saying: right, let’s lock these in place as they are forever—that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”

“We see Maribyrnong’s decision as an absolute victory for the community, and we hope it echoes across all councils.”

“It’s clear that community attitudes are changing. We are in a housing crisis. We cannot make it any harder to build housing than it already is.”

While the vote was unanimous, Councillor Thomas of the Victorian Greens told the community that she changed her mind on the overlay “at the last minute”. YIMBYMelbourne celebrates Thomas’s positive response to broad community advocacy. It is a clear demonstration of local advocacy’s power, and YIMBY Melbourne celebrates the community members who have been organising and advocating on this issue for the past many months.

“This is a win for the YIMBY movement, certainly. But even more so it’s a win for the community of Maribyrnong, and their tireless advocacy to Council.”

Over the coming months, YIMBY Melbourne will continue organising around key planning proposals across the city’s Councils. The results of this advocacy will inform the key reform recommendations our Policy Team makes to the State Government ahead of forthcoming planning reforms.