The Victorian government has announced new housing reforms that will come into effect in a month’s time, enabling the streamlined approval of apartment buildings between four and six storeys tall that meet state-wide standards.
In a media release, the government claims the new laws will “help cut average approval times by around five months.”
“No drawn-out delays. No VCAT limbo,” it reads.
Under the newly gazetted Mid-Rise Code, neighbours will no longer have the right to object to a development application that meets the prescribed standards. According to the state government, these standards include “protections for privacy, trees and green space to ensure homes are well-designed and light-filled.”
The state government’s website outlines the standards as including minimum bedroom and living room sizes, greater building setbacks and minimum private open space and tree canopy coverage requirements. According to the website, “The Mid-Rise Code also removes the ‘wedding cake effect’ created by previous planning controls, where upper levels of a building have to be set back from lower levels.”
“Removing this allows for simpler and more efficient building designs,” the website notes. “This can improve energy efficiency, helping lower ongoing costs for residents.”
Premier Jacinta Allan said, “Well-designed mid-rise projects shouldn’t be stuck in the system – they should be getting built.”
“The Mid-Rise Code is how we deliver more homes, faster, in the places people want to live,” she commented.
Minister for Planning Sonya Kilkenny added, “The status quo is not an option. We need to deliver more housing choice where Victorians want it – close to public transport, jobs and services.”
According to the state government, the code will only apply to areas where four- to six-storey developments are already permitted by the zone, and if a proposed development is in an area with a heritage or flood overlay, it will need to comply with the additional requirements of that overlay. Where an application doesn’t meet the code, it will be required to go through a separate planning process.
A communique from the Planning Institute of Australia notes that, during consultation on the preparation of the code, they were strong advocates that it should be applied only where four- to six-storey development was already permitted, and that there needed to be appropriate consideration of environmental hazards, particularly urban heat.
PIA Victorian president Patrick Fensham said, “It is pleasing to see that the new code will only apply to those areas where medium-density development is strategically planned, and will be well-supported by infrastructure, transport and services.”
“As density increases, so too should the focus on good design and climate resilient housing and neighbourhoods,” he added.
Late last year, the Victorian government introduced further reforms enabling a streamlined assessment of certain housing types, including two or more dwellings on a lot and apartment buildings of up to and including three storeys, as well as new single houses and small secondary dwellings on lots smaller than 300 square metres.
The Mid-Rise Code for residential buildings between four and six storeys will be effective from 16 April.
Source: Architecture - architectureau
