Towers up to 25 storeys will be allowed above most Suburban Rail Loop stations – including buildings at Box Hill reaching up to 40 floors – under proposed planning rules designed to add more than 70,000 new homes along the path of the underground railway.
New maps provided to The Sunday Age by the state government offer the clearest picture yet of the vision for development and building heights around six train stations between Cheltenham and Box Hill in Melbourne’s east.
They are included in a “key directions” paper – to be released on Sunday – for the $34.5 billion first stage, Suburban Rail Loop East.
The government will oversee planning controls around each of the six stations because it wants to turn them into hubs for jobs, education and medicine – and drastically increase housing supply.
The project’s initial business and investment case in 2021 forecast 47,500 additional households across the first two stages of the project, from Box Hill and Melbourne Airport.
It now aims to add more than 70,000 homes – and 230,000 permanent jobs – in the six SRL East areas alone, to be gradually developed by the 2050s.
The state government’s maps show – down to the street level – where it proposes to allow this to happen. They show the area directly above each underground station, known as precinct cores, will allow for the tallest apartment and commercial buildings. Height limits will taper down further away from each station.
The new maps also show how rapidly the plan is developing. Draft government documents revealed just four months ago included drawings that suggested towers around the stations – including Box Hill – would top out about 20 storeys.
In Box Hill, an area that already has high-rise development, towers above the station entrances would be allowed to go 40 storeys. Nearby streets could be built up to 20 storeys, while “movement corridors” along Whitehorse Road, Maroondah Highway and Station Street would allow 10 storeys.
A health and education zone would be permitted to reach up to 15 storeys. Side streets around the denser areas would be classified as either residential or urban neighbourhoods, with height limits of six and seven storeys respectively.
Lower height limits will apply above the five other stations. Towers would be capped at 25 storeys at the centre of Monash and Glen Waverley’s SRL precincts. Clayton and Burwood would top out at 20 storeys and Cheltenham at 18. Some areas designed as “major strategic sites” would also permit heights between 15 and 18 storeys.
Across each SRL East location, the directions paper proposes developing denser commercial areas close to the new stations and encouraging townhouses or mid-rise apartments on streets within walking distance.
Taller buildings would be promoted in employment and research hubs, such as a nanotech-focused neighbourhood in Monash, while Clayton’s connection to key medical facilities would allow for denser health zones.
Outside these specialist areas, buildings along main roads could rise to 10 storeys, tapering off in surrounding streets.
Premier Jacinta Allan and Transport Infrastructure Minister Danny Pearson at the new State Library station this month.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
Premier Jacinta Allan said Melbourne was growing fast, and the rail loop would make room for thousands of new homes close to jobs, transport and other services.
“We have a clear vision: more transport, more jobs and more homes for Victorians,” she said.
The document offers more detail on the government’s vision for the six precincts beyond what was first shown in December. Since then, feedback from the community has informed the planning, such as the decision to propose a linear park along Whitehorse Road in Box Hill.
The government is seeking further feedback, including locations for new green spaces.
“More housing options mean local kids have a better shot of owning a home close to where they grew up,” Transport Infrastructure Minister Danny Pearson said. “We’ve taken on board years of community feedback and this is just the next step in a detailed and proper planning process that involves locals every step of the way.”
The government will seek further community feedback on the plans but even before the emergence of the new height details, some councils were pushing back against unchecked increases in housing density and building heights around some of the proposed stations.
Local businesses also expressed concerns that small shopping strips would be bulldozed to make way for the new stations and high-rises. Long-term residents also worry about the drastic change to the style and amenity of their suburbs.
First announced before the 2018 election, the Suburban Rail Loop – a 90-kilometre orbital rail loop linking Cheltenham to Werribee – is one of the Victorian government’s signature initiatives.
But the huge project has drawn criticism for its cost and raised questions of whether government funding on smaller projects could deliver greater benefits.
The Coalition had vowed to shelve the project if elected in 2022, promising to spend the funds involved on the health system. Opposition Leader John Pesutto has reserved the right not to proceed if elected in 2026 despite the first major works contracts being inked.
Funding for the $34.5 billion needed for SRL East is also uncertain. The state still hopes to secure two-thirds of the money from the federal government – which has so far committed just $2.2 billion while it awaits further advice from Infrastructure Australia – and from the private sector.
The state government insists it has “more than enough money” for tunnel-boring machines to start work in 2026.
There are also concerns about cost overruns after the North East Link blew out by $10 billion late last year, prompting a warning from credit rating agencies.
The state’s Parliamentary Budget Office has estimated it could cost $96.5 billion to build just the first two sections – SRL East and North, through Melbourne’s northern suburbs.
The government disputes this figure but its own initial estimate – a price tag of up to $50.5 billion – has also been challenged given most of this amount has already been allocated just to SRL East.
Infrastructure Partnerships Australia chief executive Adrian Dwyer said housing density around train stations was a win for housing affordability.
“If we are going to really tackle housing affordability, then supply is the only real answer – and the answer to supply is density,” he said.
“It’s critical that density and rail are paired together. Growth is going to happen, we can have dumb growth or smart growth – this is smart growth.”
With Rachel Eddie
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