planning news
Deterring density
In July, Plan Melbourne introduced three new flavours of residential zone. Loosely described, the Neighbourhood Residential Zone (NRZ) will prevent medium or high density developments in order to preserve character, the General Residential Zone (GRZ) is pretty much business as usual with a small nod to developers, and the Residential Growth Zone (RGZ) is where apartment blocks will be allowed to blossom. Well blossom as much as they can within a 13.5m height restriction. The new zones are meant to provide more certainty to residents and developers.
23.11.14 in planning
Why does land cost the earth?
That’s the subtitle of a new documentary to be previewed at Melbourne’s ACMI on August 10th, Real Estate for Ran$om. Looking into the economics of property speculation, the film’s researchers uncovered a little secret. While the REIV’s housing vacancy rate for Melbourne stands at 1.7%, the “speculative” vacancy rate, which includes housing not for rent, is 4.94%. That’s 46,220 of the 935,305 properties for which they inspected water bills – a tell tale sign of whether a house is occupied.
25.07.11 in planning real-estate
Madden's meeting
Big News has covered the email schemozzle to death, so I thought I’d leave it to them. But I can’t resist this screenshot from ABC TV. Masterful composition. Here is an isolated Madden looking more like Jim Hacker than he would probably like. He had just gate-crashed his way into a very important inquiry into his own department’s pants-down on public consultation. The other lads appear to be leaving him out of their chat. But what on earth has that guy on the right drawn? A legless pelvis? In confident strokes. Great work for a pollie.
13.03.10 in planning weird-wonderful
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More Adelaide woes
Adelaide Now reports on two developments in a spot of bother, both for being out of character. The first is a Jetsonesque building by DC Architecture in Kent Town, which despite being approved by State Heritage and the Council, and despite being made less space age and more stone age than the pic below shows, was recently knocked back by the local Development Assessment Panel for reasons including:
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Life in a heritage overlay
An Albert Park resident is having the usual problems trying to demolish his “bog standard” deco house, and has gone to the press with it as consultant fees top 150K. “When we’ve put extensions to [the council] previously they said they didn’t like architecture that mimicked previous periods… Then we bring in a contemporary design and they say it introduces new elements. I thought they were a bunch of megalomaniac tossers.”
Not Happy, DAP
Adelaide architect Fred Phillis has complained about the Adelaide Development Assessment Panel after they turned down his application for three student housing towers on Grote Street with a few choice phrases that didn’t make it into the minutes , but ended up in the paper … such as “absolute rubbish” and “future slums”. Adelaide council has warned the DAP to behave itself: “Mr Phillis has requested an apology and that the relevant panel members be removed from office… The council takes any such complaint seriously. This complaint serves as a reminder to you and your duties of public office… In particular, that as a member of the panel, you are expected to act with integrity and professionalism.”
07.06.09 in planning
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Windsor Hotel
Denton Corker Marshall is working with the Halim Group on a design for a 15 storey tower behind the historic Windsor Hotel. The tower will reportedly wipe out part of the Hard Rock Cafe – no great loss there. But the National Trust isn’t happy – CEO Martin Purslow saying, “This proposal is over twice the statutory height limit under Melbourne’s planning scheme. It says the statutory height limit is to preserve the scale of the Bourke Hill precinct, and that’s the bloody reason we have these limits.”
Shrine pickle
A two week public hearing starts next week into the fate of several sites very close to Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance.
planning a shed
I was just sent the link to this hilarious but rather old article from last May – about an architect who seems to have snapped while writing a planning report for a farm shed somewhere in the UK.
22.02.09 in weird-wonderful planning
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Schaufelberg, Rees and Gummer
The renowned and quite deceased New Zealand architect William Gummer, as a young architect, participated in the competition for the planning of Canberra. The plan on this linked page can be viewed at a much larger scale if saved first then opened. The full text of the entry is included, and includes this little statement that suggests that competitions were the same mad dash then as they are now.
01.04.08 in planning
Architect / protaganist: