FOOTSCRAY CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT
COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Maribyrnong Planning Scheme
May 2010
COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT PLAN
MARIBYRNONG PLANNING SCHEME
MAY 2010
FOOTSCRAY CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT COMPREHENSIVE DEVELOPMENT
PLAN
Land
This Comprehensive Development Plan applies to land in the Footscray Central Activities
District. The land included in the Footscray Central Activities District Comprehensive
Development Plan is set out below, with the exception of land included in Precincts 2A-2E
(Railway Station Precinct) and Precinct 5 (Joseph Road).
Comprehensive Development Plan Map 1
Purpose
To use and develop land in accordance with the objectives, requirements and guidelines set out in
this Comprehensive Development Plan.
Objectives
Land use
 To further Footscray’s cosmopolitan mixed use role as a regional hub for a broad range of
retail, commercial, civic, health and educational activities, and diverse housing choices.
 To avoid further dispersal of key shopping facilities by focusing and strengthening retail
activity within the centre’s core (i.e. Precinct 1 and Sub-Precinct 2F).
 To ensure that any retail uses outside of Precinct 1 and Sub-Precinct 2F do not compete with,
but serve to complement the centre’s core.
 To support Footscray as the western region’s destination of choice for shopping and dining, in
particular enhancing the diversity and quality of:

Food, groceries and day-to-day household goods;

Cafes and restaurants;

Specialist multi-cultural retail and commercial products and services; and
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Major retail attractors.
 To ensure large format retail uses are integrated into development with other uses that
facilitate active street frontages.
 To increase the supply and variety of office space within the centre, suitable for a range of
businesses, including the provision of affordable floor space for community-based
organisations.
 To increase the overall density and diversity of housing stock within the centre, ensuring an
adequate supply of affordable and culturally-appropriate housing suitable for all household
types and sectors of the community.
 To encourage the greater integration of university campuses and student activities into daily
life within the centre.
 To provide a greater variety of leisure, recreation and entertainment opportunities within the
centre, particularly catering for night-time activity and informal communal meeting places.
 To further encourage the establishment of a range of arts and cultural activities within the
centre.
 To increase the provision, array and co-location of government, community and health
services and facilities within the centre to meet the needs of the community.
Built form
 To revitalise the overall amenity, appearance and image of Footscray, creating a stronger
sense of place that is creative and unique to the locality.
 To ensure new development is of the highest architectural and urban design quality, and
supports the “artsy, edgy and safe” image aspirations of the local community.
 To encourage the development of sensitively designed iconic buildings at key gateway sites
throughout the centre.
 To direct site-responsive and sensitively designed higher density development and taller built
form to strategically appropriate locations within the centre.
 To ensure new development is sensitive to the height, scale, character and proportions of
existing valued buildings.
 To provide sufficient spaces between the towers of taller buildings to ensure access to natural
light and air, and maintain visual privacy and a sense of visual openness in the skyline.
 To ensure new buildings, including towers, align to the street pattern and respect the
continuity of street facades.
 To encourage the physical, visual and notional integration of Precincts within the CAD.
 To enhance key views and vistas along the Maribyrnong River environs and capitalise on
views to natural and physical landmarks, including the Melbourne CBD skyline.
 To encourage the development of buildings with flexible floor spaces that can accommodate a
range of uses over time.
 To encourage the overall improvement in appearance of shop-fronts especially within the
centre’s core.
Heritage
 To recognise, conserve and enhance elements of Aboriginal and post-settlement historical
significance.
 To ensure new development appropriately considers and references valued elements of
cultural heritage significance.
 To ensure new development is integrated with heritage buildings and demonstrates due regard
to their height, scale and character.
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Environmentally sustainable design
 To integrate best practice ESD principles into new development at every opportunity,
including building energy management, water sensitive urban design, construction materials,
indoor environment quality, waste management, transport, and demolition and construction.
 To support development that reduces energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions, and
employs active systems for ESD performance.
 To encourage flexible building designs that can accommodate a range of uses and activities
over time.
 To encourage the provision of green roofs and roof gardens.
Amenity
 To ensure new development provides for a high level of on-site amenity, whilst minimising
any unreasonable off-site impacts to adjoining public and private properties.
 To ensure developments for sensitive uses incorporate design measures to mitigate amenity
impacts associated with the operation of other businesses and activities in the centre.
Public realm
 To create a high quality pedestrian environment that is active, legible, safe, stimulating and
links major land uses and Precincts within the centre.
 To encourage new development to incorporate art in the public domain.
 To provide for the overall “greening” of Footscray with attractive and consistently landscaped
spaces throughout the centre.
 To ensure Footscray’s residents and visitors are well-served by usable, functional and highquality areas of public open space.
 To ensure new developments contribute to the creation and/or enhancement of public open
spaces and the public realm, where appropriate, including informal, passive and active
recreation spaces.
 To encourage greater access and connectivity to, and avoid the privatisation of public open
spaces, especially along the Maribyrnong River.
Transport, access and car parking
 To facilitate a balanced, sustainable, efficient and safe transport network within Footscray that
encourages walking, cycling and public transport over motorised vehicles.
 To create a truly ‘walkable’ centre, improving overall pedestrian safety, mobility and access
within and external to all Precincts and key attractions of Footscray.
 To provide an east-west pedestrian spine linking major clusters of retail development in the
core of the centre.
Precinct Descriptions and Objectives
The boundaries of the following Precincts are shown on the Comprehensive Development Plan
Map 1.
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Precinct 1 – Core Activity
Precinct map
Comprehensive Development Plan Map 2
Precinct objectives
 To maintain and enhance the diversity of shopping, entertainment and dining experiences in
Footscray’s core.
 To ensure that retail developments contribute to the consolidation of Footscray’s core retail
area and avoid further dispersal of key shopping facilities.
 To create dynamic streets and a ‘market atmosphere’ in the Precinct including outdoor eating
opportunities and active frontages.
 To create recognised shopping streets with speciality stores and services providing pedestrian
spines linking major attractors.
 To emphasise Nicholson Street and Leeds Street as key north/south corridors through the
Footscray CAD.
 To support the refurbishment of key retail attractors including the Footscray Plaza and Forges
site.
 To encourage new supermarket and department store-based developments as part of a cluster
of retail development in the western part of the core.
 To revitalise Maddern Square as an urban plaza with active edges comprising restaurants,
speciality stores and services.
 To promote mixed-use development, including higher density housing, affordable housing and
office uses at upper floor levels.
 To encourage the development of employment and community uses, including commercial
services and education.
 To encourage a transition to neighbouring residential areas by promoting residential and other
complementary uses:
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Between Ryan and Donald Streets; and

Along the eastern side of Moore Street, north of Byron Street.
 To promote a high quality public realm, good quality urban design and public safety
throughout the precinct.
 To enhance the connectivity of pedestrians within the Precinct and to other parts of the
Footscray CAD, particularly universities and transport facilities.
Precinct guidelines
 Maintain the fine grain and heritage streetscape within the central segment of Barkly and
Hopkins street corridor through low rise development outcomes.
 Ensure building forms provide for activity, sunlight access and a sense of openness to
Maddern Square, Paisley, Barkly and Hopkins streets.
 Emphasise the Barkly and Hopkins Street east-west corridor through built form.
 Promote a lower-scale central retail core that is emphasised by a built form transition up in
height at its edges.
 Buildings in Sub-Precincts 1A, 1F and 1G should be designed to make an appropriate
transition in height, scale and built form between the retail and commercial core to the
south/west and the sensitive interface with lower scale residential neighbourhoods to the
north/east.
 Encourage regular maintenance and upgrades to existing shopfronts.
 Develop a safe, well lit and presented, sheltered pedestrian pathway system linking all parts of
the Precinct.
Sub-Precinct 2F – Footscray Market (part of Precinct 2 – Railway Station)
Sub-Precinct map
Comprehensive Development Plan Map 3
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Sub-Precinct objectives
 To encourage the development of landmark buildings on the Footscray Market and ‘Triangle’
sites that complement and emphasise the redeveloped Footscray Station as a central
community focal point.
 To maximise physical and visual connection within and between the Sub-Precinct and
surrounds.
 To create a socially and economically sustainable mixed-use Sub-Precinct that delivers a
diverse range of housing (including affordable housing), commercial, retail, arts spaces and
public recreation opportunities.
 To revitalise the Sub-Precinct as a key community space and gateway location to the
Footscray CAD, and to integrate the site with the Station Precinct.
 To retain and enhance the Footscray Market as one of the centre’s key community meeting
and shopping spaces.
Sub-Precinct guidelines
 Provide for the redevelopment or refurbishment of the Footscray Market that:

is respectful of the cultural identity of the Market;

improves a sense of identity for the Market;

ensures strong physical and visual connections between the Market, Station and
surrounding Precinct; and

is possibly staged.

Encourage additional activity and to accommodate housing and employment growth with
ground level market and retail activity and upper level residential and commercial
development.

Provide a gateway development opportunity that marks the entrance to Footscray with a
grouping of towers on the land.

Provides podium/tower forms that retains a ‘human scale’ at the street frontage with towers
setback at upper levels to reduce visual impact at street level

Focuses activity and creates a new ‘entrance’ to Irving Street near the Footscray Station.

Provides active street frontages, with a small complex grain on the market site, and with direct
street addresses and access from Irving, Hopkins and Leeds Street.

Improved pedestrian amenity and interface with the public realm, and improved pedestrian
permeability and connectivity through the market and into the retail core of Footscray.

Makes a positive contribution to the architectural character of Footscray and the public
domain, and an improved sense of identity and presence for the market.

Capitalises on views from the land and allows view sharing between the Market site and
Triangle site.

Allows for the independent development of the two sites, and the possible staged
development of the Market site.

Provides improved and centralised market loading vehicle access via Hopkins Street.

Encourages the uses of environmentally sustainable design principles including use of natural
light and air, water reuse, and solar energy.
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Precinct 3 – Victoria University
Precinct map
Comprehensive Development Plan Map 4
Comprehensive Development Plan Map 5
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Precinct objectives
 To support the University’s ongoing role in providing regionally significant tertiary education
facilities.
 To provide for uses and developments which support the University and local economy
including: education services, student and administrative support services and associated
facilities, student accommodation, research and development, and small and incubator
business enterprises.
 To support improved links between the University campuses and the business and transport
core of the activity centre (ie. Precinct 1 and Sub-Precinct 2F), including an enhanced
pedestrian environment.
 To discourage commercial and retail uses unless they are associated with the operations of the
University or are part of the development of an integrated mixed use education area.
 To support the development of the University in accordance with an approved Structure Plan.
The Structure Plan should be prepared as part of a major development of Victoria University
and should:

Establish strategic major development and land use directions for the precinct.

Set out key future major development and infrastructure needs.

Outline the general location and type of future uses to be included on the campus.

Detail built form outcomes in terms of appropriate height and general massing.

Establish principal pedestrian and vehicle movement networks.

Provide for improved integration with the surrounding activity centre.

Provide for community safety through appropriately designed streetscapes and buildings.

Detail management of car parking, traffic management, pedestrian movements, cycling
and links to public transport.

Ensure protection of heritage buildings.

Outline how development of the campus will contribute to the social and economic
objectives of the activity centre.

Provide for environmentally sustainable development outcomes.

Appropriately manage interfaces with surrounding parkland and residential areas and
respond to the ‘intimate’ feel of any adjacent residential streetscapes.
 In Sub-Precinct 3B
 promote comprehensive redevelopment to create a mixed-use area focussed on education
and incorporating student and staff accommodation, teaching, research and conference
facilities, and student services and facilities;
 create a permeable street network linking Geelong Road, Ballarat Road and Droop Street;
and
 protect heritage buildings and ensure an appropriate interface with residential surrounds.
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Precinct 4 – Riverside
Precinct map
Comprehensive Development Plan Map 6
Precinct objectives
Overall Precinct objectives
 To maintain and respect the Precinct’s diversity and historic value, creating distinct arts,
historical and maritime themes.
 To create walking and cycling linkages to the River, nearby uses and development, and core
of the centre along Bunbury Street.
 To ensure development along Bunbury Street reinforces heritage values, a pedestrian ‘feel’,
fine grain presentation, and the general low scale built form of the street.
 To ensure development enhances the image of the Precinct as a gateway to the centre,
particularly along main roads.
 To provide opportunities for employment and business activity within the Precinct, provided
that:
 Such uses are located along main roads or to the east of Moreland Street; and
 New employment uses do not compromise the amenity of surrounding residential area.
 Commercial developments do not compete with the business core of the centre.
 To ensure development respects the historic nature of buildings and streetscapes within the
Precinct.
 To ensure that new residential development offers protection from the potential amenity
impacts of road and rail transport and mixed use environments close by.
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Objectives for Sub-Precincts 4A – 4J
 To develop the area as a focus for arts, entertainment, leisure and tourism, particularly to the
east of Moreland Street (Sub-Precinct 4A).
 To promote the Precinct as an attractive, interesting, exciting, cosmopolitan, bohemian and
mixed-use environment.
 To encourage, support and facilitate the following activities:

art galleries and theatres;

spaces for festivals and market activity;

arts industries (including studios for metalworking, advertising and promotional industry,
printing and sales industries);

cafes and restaurants;

small professional offices;

places of assembly, indoor recreation, fitness and entertainment,

education and training;

community facilities and services; and

tourism support activity including retailing.
 To create a distinct, vibrant and active urban edge along the waterfront.
 To enhance opportunities for a variety of water-based activities along the Maribyrnong River.
 To maintain public access to the River and its activities and prevent privatisation of space
along the River.
 To encourage development that capitalises on the views from the escarpment over the river to
the Melbourne CBD skyline.
 To take advantage of the Precinct’s proximity to Footscray Station and the CAD’s commercial
core (ie. Precinct 1) by encouraging additional medium to high density residential
development.
 To ensure that built form transitions to lower heights near the River frontage.
 To support removal of the railway line along the River in the event that it is deemed redundant
to Port operations.
Objectives for Sub-Precinct 4K
 To support limited change and protect high quality intact Victorian and Edwardian
streetscapes and other identified heritage areas.
 To maintain and enhance the area’s openness, grandeur, street tree planting and garden
settings of dwellings.
Precinct guidelines
Guidelines for Sub-Precincts 4A – 4J
 Emphasise Hopkins Street as an urban street with a consistent band of height along the
frontage.
 Encourage a lower scale built form frontage streets south of Hopkins Street.
 Continuous public access should be provided along the Maribyrnong River.
 Areas along the River should provide for a landscape and streetscape treatment that can
accommodate a range of access requirements for river frontage activities including boating, as
well as access to the abutting property frontages where needed.
 Development should use the riverside area for pedestrian access to ensure the creation of
active fronts on development facing a riverside promenade.
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 Buildings should create a strong edge to the River open space corridor to reinforce the urban
river character.
 Development should create a lower, human scale form along the riverfront.
 Planting that is proven in highly trafficked and paved settings should be used to improve the
amenity of open spaces for users in relation to weather protection and appearance.
 Planting should reinforce vistas of important buildings and infrastructure, and visually
reinforce access points to and from the River.
 Encourage taller building forms to front Hopkins Street and transition down to River frontage
areas and established residential areas.
 On larger sites away from Hopkins Street, encourage internal accessways which reflect the
grid character of surrounding streets. Built form should respond to the internalised street
environment.
Guidelines for Sub-Precinct 4K
 Wherever possible, retain dwellings from the Victorian, Edwardian and Inter-war era that are
intact and in good condition.
 Wherever possible, retain large, established trees and provide for the planting of new trees,
wherever possible.
 The front setback of new buildings should be no less than the average setback of the adjoining
two dwellings. Side setbacks should accord with the predominant setback patterns in the
street.
 Locate garages and carports behind the line of the dwelling and ensure these are not a
dominant feature across the width of the property.
 Minimise paving in front garden areas including driveways and crossovers.
 Provide vehicular access from a rear laneway if available
 Use simple building details.
 New development, including additions to existing buildings, should be distinguishable from
the original dwelling stock through the use of innovative and contemporary, yet sympathetic
architecture.
 Provide front fences up to 1 metre in height, or open style front fences up to 1.2 metres in
height other than in exceptional circumstances.
 Parts of buildings over two storeys should be recessed from the façade of lower levels and
setback from the front facade.
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Precinct 6 – Peripheral activity
Precinct map
Comprehensive Development Plan Map 7
Precinct objectives
 To support the growing mixed-use character of the Precinct with an emphasis on employment
uses, commercial services and small businesses which support the regional role of the CAD.
 To encourage higher density residential development above or to the rear of commercial
premises.
 To encourage medical, community and health services in Paisley Street.
 To encourage office, community, leisure and entertainment uses in Barkly Street and
Nicholson Street, including cafes and restaurants.
 To encourage activities associated with the arts, fitness and recreation, showrooms and
information technology along Buckley Street.
 To allow small shops to locate along Barkly Street, whilst restricting shops from locating in
other parts of the Precinct so as to minimise competition with the retail core of the CAD (ie.
Precinct 1 and Sub-Precinct 2F).
 To preserve existing intact and good quality heritage buildings in Barkly Street, Paisley Street
and on the south side of Buckley Street between Victoria and Arran Streets.
 To ensure that new industrial or commercial activity is compatible with nearby dwellings.
 To provide additional open space to serve the southern part of the activity centre as part of any
redevelopment of the bus depot.
Precinct guidelines
 Require noise attenuation measures for dwellings within 20 meters of Buckley Street, or
where there is adjacent commercial activity that operates late at night.
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 Encourage developments to transition downwards in height to the existing residential area.
 Encourage a height transition down from the railway corridor and the CAD core to Buckley
Street and the established residential area.
 Maintain a low-scale residential interface to Walter Street.
 Maintain a consistent built form edge along Albert Street.
 Emphasise the Barkly Street urban corridor through appropriate built form.
 Maintain a distinction between lower order streets and the Barkly Street corridor.
 Ensure development provides a strong frontage which reinforces the alignment of Geelong
Road.
 Minimise shadow impacts to the south side of Paisley Street.
Precinct 7 – Neighbourhood Fringe
Precinct map
Comprehensive Development Plan Map 8
Precinct objectives
 To encourage the development of a range of accommodation types that support the functions
of the activity centre.
 To facilitate incremental change on larger or consolidated lots in Sub-Precinct 7A.
 To support limited change in Sub-Precinct 7B and protect high quality streetscapes and
identified heritage areas.
 To promote mixed use development incorporating active frontage uses at ground floor level
along the ring road (i.e. Donald and French Streets).
 To protect the existing architectural style, neighbourhood character and streetscape qualities
of Sub-Precinct 7C.
 To ensure that any non-residential uses or mixed use developments are located on appropriate
sites, particularly along main roads, and are compatible with surrounding residential areas.
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 To encourage improved pedestrian and cycling links between the core of the centre and
Victoria University along Nicholson Street.
 To retain and enhance the low scale built form and plantings in the public and private domains
found within Sub-Precincts 7B and 7C.
Precinct guidelines
Sub-Precinct 7A
 Development should maintain a human scale along its interface with streets and respond to the
existing built form context.
 Major development should be focussed on large existing lots or consolidated sites.
 Provide a low scale development interface with Victoria Street and existing residential areas
to the west.
Sub-Precinct 7B
 Where possible, retain dwellings from the Victorian, Edwardian and Inter-war eras that are
intact and in good condition.
 Retain large, established trees and provide for the planting of new trees where possible.
 The front setback should be no less than the average setback of the adjoining two dwellings.
 The front setback of new buildings should be no less than the average setback of the adjoining
two dwellings. Side setbacks should accord with the predominant setback patterns in the
street.
 Locate garages and carports behind the line of the dwelling.
 Minimise paving in front garden areas including driveways and crossovers.
 Provide vehicular access from a rear laneway if available.
 Use simple building details.
 New development, including additions to existing buildings, should be distinguishable from
the original dwelling stock through the use of innovative and contemporary, yet sympathetic
architecture.
 Provide front fences up to 1 metre in height, or open style front fences up to 1.2 metres in
height other than in exceptional circumstances.
 Articulation and visual interest through colour, building details and architectural
reinterpretation is encouraged.
Sub-Precinct 7C
 In addition to the guidelines for Sub-Precinct 7B, ensure that existing buildings are retained to
protect the consistent architectural style and character of this Sub-Precinct.
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Precinct 8 – Civic Centre
Precinct map
Comprehensive Development Plan Map 9
Precinct objectives
 To support the Precinct’s position as the civic heart of the municipality by allowing for
municipal, community and education uses.
 To allow for sensitive redevelopment which complements the heritage values of the Precinct
and adjoining residential area.
Precinct guidelines
 Ensure new development responds appropriately to identified elements of heritage value
around the Council office site.
 Allow for the potential redevelopment of non-heritage buildings and car park areas.
 Encourage a residential-scale interface adjoining the activity centre boundary.
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Height Envelopes.
The following plan (map 10) illustrates the preferred heights across the Footscray Central Activities District.
Comprehensive Development Plan Map 10
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