Fishermans Bend funding plan a step closer

The proposed development contributions plan for Fishermans Bend has been supported by a key government advisory committee, marking a major step for the future of community infrastructure in the urban renewal zone.

In April, a Precincts Standing Advisory Committee found the development contributions plan (DCP) and associated proposals for open space across the precinct were “strategically justified”.

The news represents a significant step forward in providing certainty for infrastructure funding and delivery in Fishermans Bend. The state government said it would now work through the implications of the report with the City of Melbourne, City of Port Phillip and Melbourne Water prior to finalising the DCP.

Fishermans Bend is Australia’s largest ever urban renewal project spanning an area of land more than two-and-a-half times the size of Melbourne’s CBD. It comprises five different precincts: Lorimer and the Employment Precinct to the north of the Westgate Freeway, which sit within the City of Melbourne, and Wirraway, Sandridge and Montague to the south in the City of Port Phillip.

While a monumental project in its scale, Fishermans Bend has been the victim of several political and planning setbacks during its journey since being rezoned as part of the “capital city” in 2012 by then Liberal Planning Minister Matthew Guy.

This zone allows residential and commercial uses without a permit, and applications to construct new buildings are exempt from public oversight. Land values instantly soared, resulting in a financial boon to landowners.

However, no land was purchased in advance to secure sites for schools, civic buildings and parks, and no controls were put in place to require any windfall gains to be returned for public benefit.

Since 2014 when the current Labor Government took office, it has reset the planning process for the precinct, which first culminated in a revised framework for Fishermans Bend in 2019.

The precinct is now home to both a primary and a secondary school, the new Kirrip Park in Montague, and land has been allocated for a new community hospital in the Wirraway Precinct.

But there is a lot more work to be done to realise the vision set out in that master plan for 80,000 new residents and 80,000 new workers across the precinct by 2050. Namely, funding for catalyst transport infrastructure, including the Metro 2 train and expanding the tram networks into the precinct, are yet to be announced.

According to the government, the two mechanisms to be used to fund public infrastructure projects identified in the Fishermans Bend Framework are the DCP and an “open space uplift”, which “seeks to incentivise developers to provide land for public open space in exchange for additional development rights”.

Across the Montague Precinct, which incorporates parts of Southbank, South Melbourne and Port Melbourne, new parks proposed to be funded under the uplift mechanism are located at Whiteman and Thistlethwaite streets.

The DCP also moots a significant new open space of around 4000 sqm at Munro St known as “Montague Park North”, which is currently a public car park. The City of Port Phillip said this site could accommodate a “major sport and recreation hub”.

The City of Port Phillip has also purchased the Australia Post site on Williamstown Rd, which will form the centrepiece of a new “recreation precinct” for the Sandridge community next to Montague. •