Melton City Council commenced work in August, 2017 on the Toolern Employment and Mixed Use Urban Design Framework (UDF) and the revision of the adopted Toolern Town Centre UDF (2012). The below graphic shows the project stages for both of the UDF documents.

Please note that during Stage 3 of the project, the Toolern Metropolitan Activity Centre and Toolern Employment and Mixed Use Area UDFs were re-named to better reflect the newly named suburb of Cobblebank and the new status of the town centre – the Metropolitan Activity Centre. The centres are therefore identified as the Cobblebank Metropolitan Activity Centre and Cobblebank Employment and Mixed Use Area UDFs.

There will be a number of opportunities for landowners, stakeholders and the community to provide input to the development of the UDFs at key stages of the project. Updates of these opportunities will be posted on this page and promoted through other media.

As part of the Urban Design Framework (UDF) process, a background report is required in order to identify any issues and opportunities prior to beginning the UDF.

The Background report which is accessible below was finalised in February 2018 and includes five appendices.

This stage included an initial workshop with stakeholders, landowners and occupiers as well as a community information session at the Western BACE on the evening of 21 November, 2017. The draft background report was available for public comment until 13 December 2017.

As part of the development of the draft UDFs, a buffer assessment that assesses the industrial buffers of existing industries within both UDF areas was undertaken by Council. This work will inform the draft UDF documents and is acknowledged through an addendum to the Background Report (February 2018).

• Toolern UDFs Background Report(PDF, 2MB)
• Appendix 1: Benchmarking(PDF, 4MB)
• Appendix 2: Town Centre Revised Structure(PDF, 132KB)
• Appendix 3: Movement and Transport Technical Report(PDF, 6MB)
• Appendix 4: Economics Technical Report(PDF, 2MB)
• Appendix 5: Comments Matrix(PDF, 115KB)
• Addendum: Buffer Assessment(PDF, 7MB)

What

• The Cobblebank Metropolitan Activity Centre Urban Design Framework (CMAC UDF) Cobblebank Mixed Use and Employment Urban Design Frameworks (CEMU UDF). Both are UDF separate documents. The CMAC UDF replaces the 2012 Toolern Town Centre UDF.
• The Metropolitan Activity Centre is the largest centre in the municipality and will serve the region.

Where

• Both UDFs are located in the suburb of Cobblebank and within the Toolern PSP area.
• CMAC is approximately 100 hectares and intersected by the Melbourne Ballarat Train Line and Ferris Road. Refer to the MAP in the UDF. Currently the Western BACE and Cobblebank Train station (currently under construction, due for completion end of 2019) are located within the centre.
• CEMU approximately 490 hectares and is bounded by the Western Freeway to the north, Mt Cottrell Road to the east the Melbourne-Ballarat Rail line to the south and Toolern Creek to the West. See Map in UDF.

Why

• Both UDFs have been developed as a requirement of the Toolern PSP and its UGZ3 Schedule. It is required to be prepared before development occurs.
• Development is rapidly occurring within the City of Melton’s growth areas, and therefore direction is needed to ensure that this development occurs in an appropriate way. Strategic Plans are long terms plans that are developed to guide development throughout the municipality in an integrated and cohesive way.
• A UDF is a detailed planning and design document, otherwise known as a strategic plan that sets a long term vision to guide the future use and development in the UDF areas.
• When planning permit applications are lodged within the UDF areas, Council planners will assess the permit application against the UDF (along with other relevant planning policy) to determine if the proposal for the land is in line with the vision, requirements and guidelines of the UDFs.