YIMBY Melbourne welcomes the announcement of the final tranche of the Government's Activity Centre Program. Building more homes around transit and infrastructure is key to confronting the housing crisis and creating a more liveable, sustainable, and affordable Melbourne.
The 3km CBD radius encompassed by the City of Melbourne and Yarra activity centres reflects the national version of the Missing Middle policy which will be put forward by the Abundant Housing Network Australia (AHNA) ahead of the 2025 Federal Election.
In 2024 YIMBY Melbourne developed an open-source model to measure and determine which stations the Victorian Government should prioritise for upzoning. We listed 28 stations total—25 distinct centres, and 3 outlier stations in the CBD.
More than half of the stations listed by our model will be covered by the second half of the Activity Centre Program. In several cases, stations on our list neighbour stations on the Government list.
Our shortlist is below, with stations appearing on both lists highlighted.
The greatest political cost is incurred when a change or project is announced and then not delivered for years. The slow nature of planning has often defied reform for generations.
The Department of Transport and Planning should pull out all the stops to ensure that Activity Centres are rolled out as fast as possible, staying true to their vision of a replicable planning process that eschews the micromanagement of yesteryear in favour of building a better city accessible to all.
"We have spent billions of dollars building one of the world’s best transit systems, it’s about time we made sure all Victorians can access it. Building homes around transit is the best way to get this done.”
"It's time for the role planners play to evolve. In a housing crisis, planners should reorient toward ensuring that homes get built in good locations and good communities. The Victorian Government has done just that."