State fast-tracks Arden tower despite council warning

The Victorian Government has approved a controversial high-rise development next to the new Arden Station less than two weeks after City of Melbourne councillors warned the project risked undermining more than a decade of planning work for the precinct.

Acting Minister for Planning Nick Staikos announced on July 18 that 540 homes would be built at 189–203 Arden St, North Melbourne, through the Allan Government’s Development Facilitation Program.

The approval allows two buildings ranging from 24 to 37 storeys, with 15 per cent affordable housing, retail and commercial spaces, communal open space, rooftop and terrace amenities, shared workspaces, a gym, home cinema, pedestrian links and extensive bicycle parking.

The decision follows the July 7 Future Melbourne Committee meeting, where councillors unanimously advised the Minister that they did not support the proposed Planning Scheme Amendment C492Melb in its submitted form.

The original application, lodged by Arden Village Group, sought two towers of 44 and 28 storeys, reaching 162 metres and 110 metres respectively, with 619 dwellings. While the approved version appears to reduce the scale of the proposal, the changes are modest in the context of the council’s broader concerns.

Council officers and councillors had not simply objected to the height. Their central criticism was that the proposal sought to use a site-specific planning control to bypass the recently adopted Arden planning framework, including requirements relating to height, density, overshadowing, open space and infrastructure contributions.

Deputy Lord Mayor Roshena Campbell told the July 7 meeting the proposal was an inappropriate attempt to set aside years of public planning work.

“In my view, seeking a site-specific planning control is simply inappropriate in circumstances in which over a decade of strategic planning work has just been completed for this precinct,” Cr Campbell said.

A render of the original proposal considered by the City of Melbourne on July 7.

Council officers had warned the proposal was one of the first major development applications in Arden since Amendment C407 implemented the Arden Structure Plan in 2022, and that approving a site-specific control so early in the precinct’s life could set a precedent for future development.

The original proposal substantially exceeded the preferred controls for the Arden Central Innovation sub-precinct, with the eastern tower proposed at 162 metres compared with a preferred height of 81 metres. Its floor area ratio of 15.54:1 was also well above the preferred 10:1.

Councillors were also told the project sought exemptions from mandatory shadowing requirements, public open space contributions and development contributions. Officers estimated the exemption from the Arden Development Contributions Plan alone could cost about $17 million to $17.5 million in infrastructure contributions.

At the time, Cr Campbell said the Minister should not approve the proposal without finding another way to fund that infrastructure or compelling the applicant to do so.

Lord Mayor Nick Reece was equally blunt, describing the application as “so over the odds” and warning against abandoning the rules that had been developed for Arden.

“Yes, we want to see projects going here in the City of Melbourne. We are, after all, a pro-development council and we support development,” Cr Reece said. “But we don’t want to throw out the rule book.”

Announcing the approval, Mr Staikos said the government was “building homes where people want to live – close to jobs, transport and services.”

“Only Labor is getting homes built – Jess Wilson’s Liberals just want to block them,” he said.

The approval is likely to intensify concerns about Arden’s future, with the precinct only beginning to emerge around the new Metro Tunnel station while major questions remain unresolved around schools, open space, drainage, infrastructure and the delivery of Arden Central.