Structure plans define a council’s preferred direction of future growth within an activity centre and outline how it will be managed.

Each area is unique and councils work with their communities to determine exactly how an activity centre should grow, taking into account regional population trends and economic growth.

Structure plans give effect to the policies and objectives set out for activity centres in state and local policy and provide for changing community needs.

They guide the major changes to land use, built form and public spaces that together can achieve economic, social and environmental objectives for the centre.

Under the State government's Plan Melbourne, Council is required to plan to accommodate some growth and redevelopment in the activity centres throughout Monash. Council does this planning for activity centres by preparing a Structure Plan.

Mount Waverley is identified as a Major Activity Centre in Plan Melbourne. It is a centre that provides access to a wide range of shops and services, transport options, housing and recreational opportunities. As such, a Structure Plan is required to provide a clear framework for the growth and improvement of the Centre.

For Mount Waverley, the Structure Plan will be important in guiding future development whilst preserving and enhancing the local amenity and garden city character, highly valued by the local community.

The Structure Plan sets out a long term vision for the centre and how Council will guide and manage growth of the centre. Without a Structure Plan there is no guidance for new development proposed for the centre, making it very difficult for Council or the community to have much real say in how the centre develops.

This Plan has evolved through a collaborative process between Council, key stakeholders and the local community. The key steps in the process included:

• Preparation of background technical reports
• A Discussion Paper
• Feedback through an initial round of consultation with key stakeholders, and the local community at a Listening Post (this consultation occurred in May 2019)
• Preparation of a draft Structure Plan that incorporates feedback, and a wider round of consultation (this occurred in Feb/Mar 2020)
• A Consultation Report that summarises the consultation process and the submissions received, and provides an officer response to the issues raised and any recommended changes to the plan
• Finalisation of the Structure Plan for adoption.

The consultation on the draft Structure Plan was held from Monday, 17 February to Friday, 20 March 2020. The draft Structure Plan was informed by the earlier consultations on the Mount Waverley Discussion Paper, held in 2019. As part of this consultation, 933 owners and 447 occupiers of all properties within the study area boundary were directly notified about the project. Each direct notice included a covering letter and 4-page brochure explaining the vision, direction and key policies / actions in the draft Structure Plan.

• More information: Consultation Report

The draft Structure Plan outlines a vision, directions, corresponding policies and actions and an integrated ‘Village Centre Plan’ for the Mount Waverley Activity Centre.

As part of increasing development opportunity and protecting surrounding residential areas, the draft Structure Plan proposed to locate taller built form in the commercial core area of the Structure Plan.

In response to community feedback the proposed building heights were reduced as follows:

• the Ritchies IGA site from 5-8 storeys to 4-5 storeys (consistent with the heights along Stephensons Road)
• the height of the southern portion of the Virginia Street car park site was reduced to 3-4 storeys and now includes specific requirements to limit overshadowing to the southern footpath of Virginia Street.

The Structure Plan proposes to direct growth into the commercial areas of the Activity Centre, whilst retaining the existing residential areas around the centre.

The overarching theme of the plan is to create a place for people that encourages development, in line with State Government policy, that respects and promotes the village feel of the centre.

The Plan provides a detailed assessment of the heart of Mount Waverley and how it can be improved and grow, whilst still maintaining it’s local, people friendly character.

The Plan includes:

• concepts for new public spaces,
• an upgraded and clearer a pedestrian link to connect retail, community facilities and car parking to public transport,
• a proposal to re-arrange the traffic circulation in the Hamilton Place car park making it easier and safer to navigate for pedestrians and drivers, and
• introducing building height limits in the commercial areas of 3-4 to 5 storeys, with one site with the potential for slightly higher development in the range of 5 to 8 storeys.

Any new applications for development in the Activity Centre will be assessed against the requirements of the Structure Plan.

Although the Plan has been adopted, there are currently no applications that propose to develop the opportunities that the Plan has identified in the centre. Any major applications for the Activity Centre would be subject to an appropriate level of community consultation.

The next steps are for Council to prepare some changes to the Monash Planning scheme that will introduce the built form provisions, including the building heights in the structure plan.

The plan will also guide future capital works projects, particularly upgrades to parking or paths through the centre. This project will be subject to Council's future budget processes.