Councillors endorse Highton Village Urban Design Framework

Significant community benefits will be delivered for the Highton community, with City of Greater Geelong Councillors endorsing the Final Urban Design Framework for Highton Village.

The delivery of the UDF will result in a masterplan for streetscape upgrades for Belle Vue Avenue, Belle Vue Arcade, Village Walk, Barrabool Service Lane.

The UDF was endorsed with the following changes:

  • A maximum preferred building height of 9 metres on Belle Vue Avenue to protect the character of the Highton Village;
  • The roundabout on Belle Vue Avenue will be retained;
  • Access to the Clock Tower will be retained;
  • Access to the service road from Belle Vue Avenue and Barrabool Road will be retained; and
  • There will be no net loss of car parking, with no additional pedestrian crossings.

The UDF will retain the village feel of Highton while delivering more greenery, enhanced local shopping experiences, and improvements to safety, parking, and traffic.

The adoption of the UDF follows five stages of community engagement since 2016.

Community members will have further opportunities to engage and provide feedback during the planning scheme amendment process and as part of the design of all future public realm upgrades.

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Design Guidelines:

As there are no height limits on development now, the UDF includes design guidelines for future development to protect the village character including building heights of two and three storeys and limited space for four storey development on the site where the supermarket is. Upper-level setbacks are required to maintain the low scale, intimate character of the Village and minimise overshadowing of public spaces. The design guidelines will be implemented by a planning scheme amendment and include further community consultation.

Sites for redevelopment:

To provide for retail floor space demand and provision of community facilities, two sites have been identified as having redevelopment potential:

  • Northern part of the Council car park (subject to feasibility study)
  • The large site where the supermarket is located

    • A Parking Plan is recommended to maximise utilisation of existing parking provision by ensuring that parking controls are tailored to the needs of local businesses and their customers.

    Cycle paths are shown on Barrabool Road.

    Community Facilities

    The library is retained, and its long-term future options reviewed in five years.

    Details document changes between Nov 21 and Oct 22 versions:

    The changes are:

    • Date change on front cover from November 2021 to October 2022.
    • Increased Housing Diversity (pg 10). Addition of text ‘including medium density housing’ for clarity.
    • Figure 10. Highton Village Streetscape Concept Plan (pg 30). Deletion of truck turning movement.
    • Figure 13. Belle Vue Avenue Streetscape Plan (pg 38). Adjustment to alignment of text in key.
    • Building Heights and Setbacks (pg 56). Update incorrect reference to Figures 27 and 28 (to Figure 30 and Figure 31).
    • Figure 30. Building heights and setbacks. Update incorrect figure number.
    • Figure 31. Street wall, building heights and setbacks plan. Update incorrect figure number and adjustment of alignment of text in key.
    • Updates to Table 3. Implementation Actions
    • Delete ‘Planning Strategy’ from responsibility section of Action - to prepare a planning scheme amendment to implement to UDF and a Design and Development Overlay for the retail core
    • Addition of ‘Economy, Place and Events’ in responsibility section for - Work with the Highton Traders Association to promote the Village as a unique destination and host events.
    • Delete action to ‘Work with supermarket site owner and tenant on relocation of loading bay’.
    • Delete reference to ‘multi deck car park’ within action to - Undertake feasibility study on mixed use development on council car park site.
    • Addition of ‘Planning Delivery’ for action to - Undertake feasibility study on mixed use development on council car park site.
    • Updates to Table 4. Implementation Actions
    • Remove duplicate action to - Undertake feasibility study on mixed use development on council car park site.


    Submissions

    Submissions are now closed.

    Feedback on the Interim Final Highton Urban Design Framework closed on 20 August 2021.