Heathmont Activity Centre Carpark

The Heathmont Activity Centre carpark will service the Heathmont Village shopping precinct, the bus interchange and Heathmont railway station as well as providing exciting opportunities for community activation and linkages with the 7350sqm adjoining open space made up of VicTrack land and the FJC Rogers Reserve.

The carpark will be located on the Council owned land at 127B Canterbury Road, Heathmont, which was purchased with the Australian Government funding provided for the carpark, and will:

• provide additional parking spaces for residents, visitors and commuters
• alleviate parking congestion on nearby local streets
• improve pedestrian amenity and connectivity to the Heathmont railway station
• facilitate improved traffic movement through and around the Activity Centre
• enhance environmental amenity and connectivity to the 7350sqm adjacent VicTrack land and neighbouring FJC Rogers Reserve through significant complementary landscaping enhancements
• take into account Heathmont’s natural values and local character
• be compatible with the Heathmont Activity Centre Structure Plan and Amendment C97
• comply with the Heathmont Activity Centre Commercial Precinct Design and Development Overlay No. 8 in the Maroondah Planning Scheme
• Coordinate with, and complement, the major improvement works to be undertaken by the Victorian Department of Transport for the:
  • $1.5 million Heathmont railway station amenity and public safety improvements
  • $8.6 million intersection improvements at Canterbury Road and Heathmont Road

Throughout the first half of 2021 Council completed early investigations for the site to assist with identifying proposed building elevations, pedestrian and traffic improvements, enhancements to the surrounding street landscape, as well as linkages and landscape enhancements with the VicTrack land which sits between the carpark site and the FJC Rogers Reserve.

Also during this time Council undertook extensive community consultation (including distributing 5,000 bulletins to the local community twice during March and April, and several face to face sessions) to provide information on the proposed carpark and sought feedback from the community on:

• how they would use the carpark
• what important outcomes they wanted for the carpark
• how the carpark could benefit the community.

We received over 110 submissions from our community, with the key issues being:

• the design should reflect the character of Heathmont
• keen to see design concepts and understand the building mass in the context of the site
• traffic management both vehicular and pedestrian for Canterbury Road and adjoining streets
• a need to understand what impacts there may be on the existing environment and what landscaping improvements were proposed, including proposed tree removal and offset planting and adjacent open space improvements, including the existing playspace
• an interest in community activation opportunities

This community feedback and discussions with key stakeholders is greatly appreciated. In response to the feedback, Council has prepared a concept design and landscape design, and identified traffic management improvements, forming the basis of this next round of community consultation.

In August 2013 Council formally endorsed the Heathmont Activity Centre Structure Plan. The Plan provides guidance for land use, built form, access and movement networks, and public spaces that together can achieve environmental, social and economic outcomes for the Heathmont Activity Centre.

The Structure Plan was developed in collaboration with key stakeholders and was informed by extensive consultation and discussion with the Heathmont community. During this process Heathmont residents and local traders identified the need to manage the provision of parking within the busy Canterbury Road commercial shopping precinct.

Some of the key issues identified during this period of community consultation included:

• Traffic
• Carparking
• Pedestrian safety, including access to Heathmont railway station and across the railway line

Gazetted by the Victorian Minister for Planning on 11 October 2018, the Heathmont Activity Centre Planning Scheme Amendment C97:

• Amended Clause 21 of the Local Policy Planning Framework, and updated the Municipal Strategic Statement in the Maroondah Planning Scheme
• Applied a new Design and Development Overlay (DD08) for the commercial area in the Activity Centre
• Rezoned three properties, including 127B Canterbury Road, Heathmont from a railway use designation to a Commercial Zone 1.

In September 2016 a petition with close to 1900 signatures from the community called for Council to respond to the Heathmont Activity Centre Structure Plan, and to provide additional parking for the Heathmont Village shopping precinct as a priority, given the popularity of the area and the demand for parking exceeding the supply.

In response, Council resolved to complete a detailed investigation and to determine whether the provision of additional parking for the shopping precinct was feasible. It was noted at that time, there was no Council owned land available in proximity of the shopping precinct for the construction of new car parking.

As such, Maroondah City Council has for some years included in its Council Plan the need to provide additional carparking in its activity centres and to address congestion around our railway stations, advocating at both State and Federal levels of government for support in this regard.

With the provision of Australian Government funding for a carpark in the Heathmont Activity Centre, Council was able to fully purchase the 127B Canterbury Road site in 2020, which sits:

• adjacent to the railway line and station
• adjacent to the Heathmont Village shopping precinct
• adjacent to 7350 sqm of open space, including the FJC Rogers Reserve and playspace

In August 2013 Council formally endorsed the Heathmont Activity Centre Structure Plan.

The structure plan is a strategic planning document which gives effect to the policies and objectives for use and development of land in the State and Local Planning Policy Frameworks. It guides major changes to land use, built form, access and movement networks, and public spaces that together can achieve environmental, social and economic outcomes for the activity centre.

The structure plan was developed in collaboration with key stakeholders and was informed by extensive community consultation and discussion with the Heathmont community. During this process Heathmont residents and local traders identified the need to manage the provision of parking within the busy Canterbury Road commercial shopping precinct. In particular, the key issues identified from the consultation were:

• traffic

• car parking

• pedestrian safety, including access to Heathmont railway station and across the railway line.

In September 2016 a petition with close to 1900 signatures from the community called for Council to respond to the Heathmont Activity Centre Structure Plan, and to provide additional parking for the Heathmont Village shopping precinct as a priority, given the popularity of the area and the demand for parking exceeding the supply.

In response, Council resolved to complete a detailed investigation into the matters raised and to determine whether the provision of additional parking for the shopping precinct was feasible. It was noted at that time, there was no Council owned land available in proximity of the shopping precinct for the construction of new carparking.

Gazetted by the Victorian Minister for Planning on 11 October 2018, the Heathmont Activity Centre Planning Scheme Amendment C97:

• Amended Clause 21 of the Local Policy Planning Framework, and updated the Municipal Strategic Statement in the Maroondah Planning Scheme
• Applied a new Design and Development Overlay (DD08) for the commercial area in the Activity Centre
• Rezoned three properties, including 127B Canterbury Road, Heathmont from a railway use designation to a Commercial Zone 1.

To read more on the Heathmont Activity Centre Structure Plan visit the important links section on this page.