_FORMER AUSTRAL BRICKS SITE, STUD ROAD

Collie has been working on an exciting project to provide around 1,000 dwellings and a local activity centre on the former Austral Bricks quarry and brickworks site on Stud Road, Scoresby.

Background
Collie has provided planning advice to Mirvac Victoria since it was chosen as the preferred purchaser of the former Austral Bricks quarry and brickworks on Stud Road, Scoresby.

Prior to the sale of the site, Austral Bricks in conjunction with the City of Knox prepared and exhibited a planning scheme amendment to locate the majority of the site in the Residential 1 Zone, apart from an area of Mixed Use Zone intended for use as a local shopping centre. The amendment also proposed to apply an Environmental Audit Overlay and a Development Plan Overlay to the site, as well as incorporate into the Scheme an ‘urban planning guidelines’ document to guide the future development of the site. In preparing this amendment, Austral Bricks and the City of Knox had undertaken community consultation, including presentation of the ‘urban planning guidelines’ document.

Initially, the Collie role focused on providing strategic advice as to how best negotiate the planning system and to have the amendment appropriately restructured to suit the preferred Mirvac development model. This resulted in changes to the prosposed amendment and in particular, the status of the ‘urban planning guidelines’ and content of the schedule to the Development Plan Overlay.

Following gazettal of the amendment, Collie has assisted Mirvac in obtaining a planning permit for bulk earthworks on the site, and prepared an amendment to relocate the Mixed Use Zone and increase the amount of shop floor space permissible. This amendment has also now been gazetted.

More recently, Collie has worked with Mirvac to prepare a development plan for the site. The preparation of the development plan included public consultation sessions to present the new development approach, as well as extensive liaison with the City of Knox planning department representatives and Councillors.

The development plan indicates an exciting new development for the site, including up to around 1,000 dwellings and a local shopping centre with up to 1,000 square metres of shop floor space. The development is proposed to be located around a landscape and public open space ‘spine’ created by a horseshoe shaped access road which runs through the site. Key issues addressed in the development plan include:

  • addressing through a built form approach traffic noise from Stud Road;
  • residential interfaces along some boundaries of the site;
  • utilising potential views to the Dandenong Ranges;
  • the appropriate distribution of public open space;
  • appropriate management of storm water.

We are happy to announce that the development plan for the site was approved in early 2010. This is an important event in the progress of the development and we look forward to the issue of planning permits for the early stages of the development.