City of Melbourne gives conditional support for next stage of Gurner’s Digital Drive plan

The City of Melbourne has given its conditional endorsement for the next stage of developer Gurner’s ambitious Digital Drive project in Docklands.

Council planning officers had initially recommended that councillors oppose the plans and advise the Minister for Planning that the proposal departs too significantly from the agreed planning framework, with the matter being considered at the September 2 Future Melbourne Committee meeting.

However, in an amended motion moved by the council's chair of planning Deputy Lord Mayor Roshena Campbell, councillors instead voted in favour of the plans subject to a series of conditions. 

The City of Melbourne will advise the Minister for Planning to make an amendment to the Digital Harbour Development Plan, which is now 14 years old, and consider a range of improvements to the plans before issuing a planning permit. 

The application, lodged by Digital Harbour Developments Pty Ltd and designed by Fraser & Partners on behalf of Gurner, seeks approval for two new towers fronting Harbour Esplanade and Dudley St. The landowner is Development Victoria.

Council officers, however, had concluded that the scheme strays too far from the Development Plan approved in 2011, which was meant to guide the long-term growth of the Digital Harbour precinct.

At the heart of the council’s concerns is the extent of change from what was envisaged in that plan. The proposal combines what were expected to be two separate buildings into a single podium topped with twin towers ranging from 90 to 116 metres.

Council planning officers said that this would increase heights by up to 50 per cent beyond what the plan anticipated. The gross floor area would almost double, growing from around 39,600 square metres to more than 74,000, while the balance of uses has shifted dramatically towards residential and hotel accommodation at the expense of commercial space.

Under the new plans the towers would deliver 436 apartments and 279 hotel rooms, compared with 430 dwellings and far more office space that had been originally proposed. Commercial and retail floor space has been cut by more than 70 per cent.

Planning officers also raised concerns about the impact of additional shadowing on future parks, the loss of separation between buildings on Harbour Esplanade, and the likelihood of wind effects in surrounding public spaces. Car parking provision has been reduced, and no allowance has been made for the human services floor space contemplated in the Development Plan.

Officers said the cumulative effect of these changes meant the proposal could not be considered generally in accordance with the plan, which is the threshold required under the Melbourne Planning Scheme.

If the council was the responsible authority rather than the state, the officers’ report said, the project would have needed to go through a formal amendment to the Development Plan before proceeding.

Stage one of the broader Digital Harbour redevelopment was also opposed by the City of Melbourne last year but was subsequently approved by the Department of Transport and Planning after modifications were made to protect a central park.

The latest stage would extend Digital Drive and deliver a new park at the corner of Dudley St and Harbour Esplanade, but council officers had argued that the benefits are outweighed by the scale of non-compliance.

The Minister for Planning will have the final say on whether Gurner can proceed.

Council officers concluded that the degree to which the project departs from the Development Plan is so substantial that it should be tested through a proper amendment process rather than advanced under the guise of compliance.

However, Cr Campbell said the conditions set out in the amended motion would help to "ensure" the plans were compliant with the planning scheme •