Draft Activity Centre plans continue to show real-world potential

YIMBY Melbourne welcomes the Government's ambition to undo decades of indifference and build the city Melburnians deserve.

The draft plans show promise in allowing more homes where people want to live

Every local council has blanketed their backyards with restrictions on what can and can't be built there.

These draft plans show that the Victorian Government is making meaningful efforts to unlock the potential for these affluent and high amenity suburbs to grow.

Smaller catchment scale will lead to less housing than originally envisioned

The new plans appear to calculate the walkable catchment areas from the train station itself, rather than the Activity Centre boundary.

This means that areas where more homes can legally be built have shrunk significantly, reducing the impact of these reforms. The way that inner and outer catchments are divided remains opaque.

YIMBY Melbourne welcomes these ambitious reforms, but remains clear that every time concessions are made and plans are scaled-back—means fewer opportunities to build more homes where people want to live.  

The Activity Centres are well-targeted to create a more equitable Melbourne

Previous YIMBY Melbourne research demonstrated that a large number of Activity Centres are located in LGAs with high levels of economic segregation.

Allowing more affordable homes such as apartments and townhouses to be built in these areas will unlock the potential for less wealthy Victorians to prosper.