Greenlit Developments Exempt in Heritage Overhaul

More than 350 properties would be protected under a heritage review in Melbourne’s inner city but developments already under way have been granted an exemption.

The City of Melbourne’s Future Melbourne Committee has voted to endorse the South Yarra Heritage Review, which protects 370 properties.

The commitee endorsement triggers the filing of Amendment C425 to the Melbourne Planning Scheme to add interim protection for these properties while the process for permanent controls goes through.

But developers who have permits for demolition or development and any applications for substantial development outside existing heritage overlays will be excluded from these interim controls, allowing work to proceed on those sites. 

A public exhibition phase during the amendment process will allow comment on the level of control applied to protect the heritage of certain sites. 

All sites protected will be added to the Victorian Heritage Register.

The area considered in the review covers from High Street to the south to Alexandra Avenue and Boathouse Drive to the north, and includes the southern bank of the Yarra River, and from Punt Road to the east to St Kilda Road to the west.

The review recommends that the committee apply to Heritage Victoria to nominate the Domain Park Apartments at 191-201 Domain Road, South Yarra and the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation Synagogue at 2W-8W Toorak Road, South Yarra to the Victorian Heritage Register.

It also recommends including the land around Christ Church South Yarra at 683-701 Punt Road as part of the property’s heritage listing on the register.

▲ Robin Boyd's Domain Park Apartments from the 1960s is among properties submitted for inclusion on the Victorian Heritage Register as a site of significance.

The draft review was open for comment from August 10 to September 21, 2020, with 52 map contributions and four story contributions submitted.

The last comprehensive study of the area was carried out in 1985 and mostly included Victorian and Edwardian buildings only.

“It is not the case that we are mass upgrading 370 buildings,” Councillor Rohan Leppert told the meeting.

“There are a lot of changes to the existing controls because we’re still working with a pretty blank 1985 approach to heritage protection, when actually if this amendment passes, we could divide that big area up into sub-precincts and better describe what is protected and why, what is valued by the community and why.

“That’s only going to lead to better development outcomes.”

Traditional custodians were consulted during the heritage review process and their recommendations included in the final report.

Any sites deemed to have significant Aboriginal history will also be protected through addition to the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Register.

Heritage protection does not prevent development of sites but does trigger the need for permit applications to go through specific processes to assess their suitability for the site in question and its historical and cultural significance.

Applications pertaining to sites listed on the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Register will need to be assessed and undergo a consultation process with the relevant Registered Aboriginal Party. In South Yarra this is the Wurundjeri or Bunurong people depending on the location. 

The South Yarra Heritage Review follows several similar heritage review processes undertaken by the City of Melbourne including one for the Hoddle Grid which marks the boundaries of the Melbourne CBD.