8/6/2019 Johnston Street Community Proposal

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Community-based alternative proposal for 247 Johnston Street,

Abbotsford

The current application 247 Johnston Street, Abbotsford – for the construction of a part 2 , part6, par t 9, part 16 and part 17-storey building with one additional basement level, for mixed use

comprising 204 dwellings, ground floor re tail floor space, and three levels of car parking – is, in

the view of the signatories to this alternative proposal, an unfortunate response to the pressing

need for urban consolidation in Melbourne.

Research carried out by the Faculty of Architecture Building and Planning at the University of 

Melbourne indicates that the predicted increase in Melbourne’s population over the next 20 years

can be comfortably absorbed by building in activi ty centres, transport co rridors and grey and

 brownfield sites to a height of 4 to 6 storeys.

The signatories to this alternative proposal are in full support of moderately dense consolidation

with a good proportion of small units catering to small households. This has the potential to not

only limit urban sprawl but contribute to housing affordability, although tha t depends of course on

the kind of development and its intended market. Market housing for low to middle-income

households, par ticularly including families, should be encouraged.

The area has excellent, immediate and multiple public transport services, and apartments without

car parking spaces will increase affordability. These should be marketed as car-free apar tmen ts

emphasising the benefits of living in Abbotsford as a car-free household. The area canno t sustain

more demand for on-street parking, however, particularly given the progressive development of 

retail businesses along Johnston Street. Visitor car parking within the development should be

 provided, and a number of apartments , including the family units, should have dedicated car 

 parking spaces.

The Yarra planning scheme clearly specifies a desired height of 5-6 stories along transit routes. A

 precinct plan for Johnston Street f rom Hoddle Street to the Yarra River should be prepared, but

in any event, an increase to the height of the existing building should leverage outcomes with net

community benefit. These benefits should align with other objectives of council; specifically,

increasing the affo rdable housing stock and providing space for creative and culturally productive

activities. The appropriate starting point for negotiations is the height of the existing building,

tha t is, 3-4 storeys. We would be pleased to see 6 storeys on parts of the site on the basis that

(and only on this basis):

8/6/2019 Johnston Street Community Proposal

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1. a percentage of the housing units for families (20 percent should be the standard) be dedicated

to social housing for management by a local housing association;

2. a component of the ground and lower floor space be allocated to space for cultural

 production, to be managed preferably by council along the lines of the City of Melbourne’s

Creative Spaces p rogram;

3. the additional height does not block sunlight to existing residential properties.

It is essential that the street frontage of any new building be active, with shopfronts, creative

space fronts, a high degree of permeability and features that create in terest for pedestrians and

other passers-by. The red-brick façade should be altered to facilitate more activity than currently

occurs there.

Signatories

...

Dr Kate Shaw, Research Fellow in Architecture Building and Planning, University of Melbourne,

and Yarra resident