Hawksburn Village Structure Plan

In 2016 Council adopted the Hawksburn Village Structure Plan which was prepared in consultation with the local Hawksburn Village community. The structure plan helped articulate what is working well in the village and how it can be enhanced, as well as how the area might grow and change in the future.



New planning controls for Hawksburn Village

To implement some of the structure plan strategies, the Stonnington Planning Scheme needs to be changed to introduce new planning ‘rules’ for the activity centre. The new rules or planning controls will help protect and enhance what is good and valued about the village and guide opportunities for change in order to meet the needs of the existing and future population. The changes to the planning scheme aim to facilitate positive change in relation to the design of new buildings, use of land, open space and the public realm.

In order to introduce new planning controls, Stonnington’s Planning Scheme will need to be formally amended.



Amendment C272ston

On 24 June 2019, Council resolved to request the Minister for Planning to authorise Council to prepare Amendment C272ston to the Stonnington Planning Scheme. The Council report and minutes of this meeting can be found here.

Council received an authorisation letter, with conditions, from the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning on 3 September 2019. This letter can be found here.

Public Exhibition of Amendment C272ston was held from 21 November to 23 December 2019. Council received 13 submissions during the public exhibition period and one late submission.


1. Introduce a new Design and Development Overlay schedule

This will be applied to the majority of the activity centre on land zoned Commercial 1 or Mixed Use.

The new schedule to the Design and Development Overlay will set out design requirements for streetscapes, the public realm and building design within the activity centre. Design requirements include how tall buildings can be, how high a wall can be at street frontage and how far and where a building should be setback from a street or rear boundary.

Some of these requirements are proposed to be mandatory e.g. a new building cannot exceed the maximum stated building height.

Mandatory requirements have been put in place to focus on:

  • respecting heritage buildings and their built form context,
  • responding to the existing streetscape scale of Hawksburn Village, and
  • responding to residential streetscapes and ensuring an appropriate level of residential amenity.

The new schedule (number 21) to the Design and Development Overlay (DDO21) can be viewed here.


2. Change the existing land use zone for some sites within the centre to a zone that better reflects the current and future use of the land.

Specifically the changes propose to rezone part of the land at:

  • 333 Malvern Road from General Residential Zone to Residential Growth Zone, and
  • 442–446 and 448–450 Malvern Road from General Residential Zone to Commercial 1 Zone.

The changes also propose to rezone all of the land at:

  • 365 Malvern Road from Residential Growth Zone to Public Park and Recreation Zone,
  • 7 Hobson Street from General Residential Zone to Public Park and Recreation Zone, and
  • 48 Westbourne Street from Commercial 1 Zone to Neighbourhood Residential Zone.

3. Place an Environmental Audit Overlay on sites which have an industrial history, so that in the event they are redeveloped the sites are properly checked for contamination.

Specifically, the change to the planning scheme is extending the existing Environmental Audit Overlay at 442–446 and 448–450 Malvern Road in a southerly direction (this will also affect part of 6/6 Miller Street).


4. Minor updates to the Local Planning Policy Framework

Amendment C272ston also makes consequential planning scheme changes at Clause 21.04 Economic Development, Clause 21.06 Built Environment and Heritage, and Clause 21.09 Reference Documents to include appropriate references to the Hawksburn Village Structure Plan and related planning controls.



Map of proposed planning scheme changes

The map below (click to enlarge) identifies the specific locations within the activity centre where changes to the planning scheme are proposed:

For enlarged areas click the associated map:
Map 1 | Map 2 | Map 3


More information

To further explain and support the proposed planning scheme changes the Amendment C272ston documentation, explanatory report and supporting documents are provided in the links below:


Amendment C272ston documents:

Zoning Maps - Planning Scheme Map Nos.1, 4 and 5

Environmental Overlay Map - Planning Scheme Map No. 4EAO

Design and Development Overlay Maps - Planning Scheme Map Nos. 1DDO, 4DDO and 5DDO

Explanatory report


Supporting documents:

Documents can also be viewed on the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning’s website

OR in person at Planning Counter, Stonnington City Centre, 311 Glenferrie Road, Malvern


Council Meeting 30 March 2020

Officers reviewed and considered all of the submissions received during the public exhibition of Amendment C272ston. The findings of this work was put forward with recommendation in a report to Council. On 30 March 2020, Council decided, under delegation, to refer the Amendment and the submissions to an independent planning Panel, in line with officer recommendations.

The report, decision and attachments can be viewed on our website.


Planning Panel

An independent planning Panel has been appointed by the Minister for Planning to consider the Amendment and the submissions received. The Panel ran between 9 June to 15 June 2020 by video conference due to COVID-19 restrictions. The hearing was streamed live on this website.


Council Part A Submission

Council’s Part A Submission to the Panel was circulated Wednesday, 27 May 2020.

You can view the document here.


Council Expert Witness Statements

Council called upon the following expert witnesses during the Panel Hearing. Links to their Expert Witness Statements can be found here:


Submitter Expert Witness Statements

Submitter Expert Witness Statements were circulated Monday, 1 June 2020.


Submitter 2

Urban design evidence regarding 617 Malvern Road, Toorak – Craig Czarny, Hansen Partnership


Submitter 9

Heritage advice regarding 333 Malvern Road, Prahran - Roger Beeston, RBA Architects and Conservation Consultants


Submitter 14 (late submission)

Urban design evidence regarding 460 Malvern Road, Prahran – Craig Czarny, Hansen Partnership

Updates