[Guest]

Background Info:

On 16 September 2013, the Premier and the Minister for Planning announced the commencement of community engagement and released the Fisherman Bend Urban Renewal Area Draft Vision and Interim Fishermans Bend Design Guidelines. Community engagement for the project concluded on 22 November 2013. The redevelopment of Fishermans Bend is one of Australia’s largest urban renewal projects.

The approximately 250-hectare area is expected to become home to 80,000 residents and 40,000 high-productivity jobs over the next 30 to 50 years. Three kilometres south-west of the Melbourne CBD, Fishermans Bend will provide an alternative to the continued outward growth of the city, giving more people the choice to live closer to existing jobs, services, public spaces and transport connections.

Precincts

The Fishermans Bend Urban Renewal Area has four precincts. Lorimer precinct is located in the City of Melbourne on the eastern side of the Bolte Bridge. It was named after Sir James Lorimer, president of the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce in 1868-70, founding chairman of the Melbourne Harbour Trust, a founder of the Free Trade League and member of the Victorian Parliament.

Montague, Sandridge, and Wirraway precincts are in the City of Port Phillip. Montague is named after Montague Street, itself named after John Montague, 4th Earl of Sandwich and Lord of the Admiralty 1771-1782. Sandridge was the original name for Port Melbourne. Wirraway is named for the iconic Australian military aircraft built by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation at Fishermans Bend.

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[Guest]

Port Phillip Council issues battle cry over Fishermans Bend skyscrapers over imminent decision by Planning Minister Matthew Guy

PORT Phillip Council will oppose eight planning applications for Fishermans Bend, in anticipation of an “imminent” decision by Planning Minister Matthew Guy. At last night’s meeting, community members and former mayor Dick Gross called on the council to declare war on Mr Guy, who has authority over the urban renewal precinct. Officers said they had it “on good advice” Mr Guy would decide on the proposed skyscrapers — up to 40 storeys tall — “sooner rather than later”. Stakeholders expect him to announce a slew of approvals in coming weeks, as the State Government’s strategic framework plan, to supersede its current draft vision, is released. Fishermans Bend Network convener Helen Halliday said the community feared the strategic plan would not reflect the rosy picture of the precinct the draft vision has painted.

Chief among concerns are building heights and a lack of infrastructure such as open space, schools and public transport. One of the applications opposed by the council, at 2-4 Buckhurst St, is marked for open space in the draft vision. Six applications were rejected as too high, with a seventh to be supported only if significant changes were made to address traffic and design concerns. Former mayor Dick Gross slammed the council’s handling of Fishermans Bend, accusing it of being “sycophantic and servile in its dealings with the State Government”. “When the first, low-rise applications were rolled out, we were assured the Fishermans Bend urban renewal area was not about towers ... But it’s an unacceptable forest of towers now being paraded before us,” he said.

Mr Gross said the council must take a tougher approach and declare war on the government. “This is not a planning issue; it is a political issue,” he said. Mayor Amanda Stevens said the council would continue to advocate for the best outcome for Fishermans Bend. “We need to continue to work together and hold the current and any future state government to account,” Cr Stevens said. “We’re very serious about making sure we have the best practice urban renewal in the world, and we have put considerable resources into this.” The council voted to oppose — in their current form — eight of the 13 applications on Planning Minister Matthew Guy’s desk:

— 6-78 Buckhurst St (four towers of up to 37 storeys)

— 15-87 Gladstone St (three towers of up to 22 storeys)

— 15-35 Thistlethwaite St (one 38-storey tower)

— 134 Buckhurst St (two towers of up to 30 storeys)

— 166 Buckhurst St (one 20-storey tower)

— 165-167 Gladstone St (one 18-storey tower)

— 2-4 Buckhurst St (two towers of up to 36 storeys, marked for open space in draft vision)

— 199-201 Normanby Rd (one 40-storey tower)

The council had previously given conditional support for:

— 228-238 Normanby Rd (two towers of up to 43 storeys)

— 60-82 Johnson St (four towers of up to 54 storeys)

It opposed:

— 134-142 Ferrars St (49-storey tower next to proposed school site)

— 89-103 Gladstone St (30-storey tower)

 

[Guest]

Fishermans bid

An application to build a relatively small apartment complex in Fishermans Bend is being reviewed by Mr Guy. In what is the latest in a string of applications since a landmark rezoning of former industrial land in mid-2012, a vacant block at 101 Salmon Street could make way for a 12-level apartment building that will include 989 square metres of lower-level retail space. The complex will also include 157 flats, 157 car parks and bays for 12 motorbikes. The affected land is in Wirraway - one of four new suburbs to be developed within the 240-hectare urban renewal project. Wirraway is the most west of the four suburbs, closest to Port Melbourne beaches. Developer interest has been most intense in Montague, the eastern-most new suburb within Fishermans Bend, where dozens of skyscrapers have been proposed. Just one commercial building, an office proposed to rise 36 levels, has been applied for since the rezoning almost two years ago. The tallest buildings earmarked for Fishermans Bend since that time are mooted to rise over 50 levels.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/business/p...ce-building-20140613-3a0st.html#ixzz34ZKYGRi7

 

[Guest]

Fishermans Bend development to feature boulevard, new tram line

A European-style boulevard and a new tram route feature in the final plan for the massive Fishermans Bend urban redevelopment. New streets, city-style laneways, bike paths and walking tracks are also planned for the multi-billion-dollar project that will expand the CBD and eventually be home for up to 80,000 people. Due for release on Monday, the completed masterplan envisages a new inner suburb with a mix of high-rise and lower-density housing, open spaces and job hubs.

Centrepiece of the development is Civic Blvd - a grand arterial lined with cafes, restaurants and shops on what is now Plummer and Fennell streets, Port Melbourne. Under one transport option, trams would run down a green belt in the middle of the boulevard as part of a new line branching off the 109 route at Ingles St. There would be scope for the new tram line to eventually extend to the beach at Port Melbourne’s Garden City. Under the Napthine Government’s announced Melbourne Rail Link project, an underground station would be built at Fishermans Bend at the intersection of Montague St and the 109 tram line.

Planning Minister Matthew Guy said the 250ha redevelopment would take 40 years and would be more than double the size of the central city. Committee for Melbourne chief executive Kate Roffey said the Government should give priority to the affordable option of a tram bridge across the Yarra linking Fishermans Bend with the Collins St tram in Docklands. This was preferable to extending the 109 route, which was already at full capacity, and she questioned if and when the Montague station would be constructed. “If we don’t get an absolute guarantee that there will be a better public transport offering down there, developers will have no option but to put two, three or four-storey carparks on the bottom of their buildings,” she said.

 

[tdoz123]

City style laneways don't work in contrived/all built at once areas, unless they are utlising the existing ones near city rd with some old building fabric, still it all sounds much better than docklands planning.

 

[NoshowwithoutPunch]

City style laneways don't work in contrived/all built at once areas, unless they are utlising the existing ones near city rd with some old building fabric, still it all sounds much better than docklands planning.

I think what is also missed about 'laneways' isn't just the pokey footspace, but informal and small sized tenancies, more adaptable spaces and also whether the lane leads anywhere.

Just using lanes to hang another IGA or San Churro or Pieface or whatever off is not going to get them in. And charging the ridiculous rents that shopping centre owners do, only to have the customers out in the cold and wet, is also no formula for success.

 

[Guest]

Planning Minister Matthew Guy gives green light for skyscraper city at Fishermans Bend:

Planning Minister Matthew Guy has given the green light to developers for a proliferation of skyscrapers on prime land bordering the CBD. Mr Guy on Monday released the final plan for Fishermans Bend – 250 hectares of largely industrial land in Port Melbourne to be developed into a new suburb for 80,000 residents. The urban renewal area is Australia's largest, 20 per cent larger than Melbourne's Hoddle grid. Currently only 200 people officially live in the area, with the rest of the land taken up by light and heavy industrial businesses.

The new Fishermans Bend Strategic Framework Plan sets recommended height limits for the redevelopment of the entire new suburb. But there are no mandatory height limits. Mr Guy said the plan's recommended heights would guide developers for what to build where. "The indicative heights give a good guide to what we'd like to see,’’ he said. There are 13 planning applications sitting on Mr Guy's desk awaiting approval, ranging from 40 storeys down to 18. He has already approved three others. Mr Guy said construction on a number of projects would get ""under way within the next few months". He said that "some of the applications are maybe a little too enthusiastic, but there is a lot of interest in this project from the private sector".

RMIT planning expert Michael Buxton, who has followed Fishermans Bend plans closely, said the Coalition had not learnt the lessons of Docklands. "Docklands had a pretend approach to planning, and this is just the same: a plan that acts as a smokescreen for handing over decisions about what is built to the development industry." Professor Buxton said there would be "far too much highrise, grossly excessive heights" built at Fishermans Bend as a result of the discretionary height limits. "The big international money coming into Melbourne is all about highrise," and the government's framework plan would see a continuation of high towers with "smaller and smaller apartments".

Planner Roz Hansen also said the plan would likely lead to developments ''well above the [recommended] height limits – that's what has been happening across the CBD in the last few years. Discretionary height limits mean ... you can go as high as you like''. The plan also appeared to disappoint Port Phillip Council, which issued a lukewarm press release saying it was a "starting point" that "needed more work". The council will have responsibility only for buildings under four storeys and less than 60 dwellings. The council recently hired Mr Guy's chief of staff, Richard Brice, to oversee development at Fishermans Bend.

The plan includes the future possibility of a tram bridge over the Yarra at Collins Street in Docklands. But Mr Guy indicated it was unlikely any time soon because of its $300 million price tag. Opposition planning spokesman Brian Tee said that Mr Guy's approach to Fishermans Bend was to "let it rip" and give developers what they wanted. He said the minister had failed to put in any meaningful controls on where skyscrapers should be built in the new suburb, and had not provided funding up front for new infrastructure that residents would need. "There is not yet a cent for public transport or schools," he said. There was $5 million in this year's budget for the preparation of a site for a new school in Ferrars Street, South Melbourne.

 

[melburn21]

i hope im alive to see this fully realised!

 

[melburn21]

lets have a look shall we!

 

[Drunkill]

Seems fine, although I'd extend the 'boulevard' up Ingles street towards Lorimer and run a tram tunnel under the river to connect with the Collins Street extension, thus making bourke and collins thoroughfares and not deadends in docklands. Ingles street bridge already exists and will need to be duplicated sometime soon due to the increased traffic and density, may as well run the tramline over it instead of attempting to run a tram through the yarras edge marina park and across the wider section of the freeway.

The immersed tube tunnel would be for trams only (perhaps pedestrian/bicycle area but probably too hard to achieve) instead of an expensive and slow to operate swing or drawbridge proposed next to ANZ HQ. A smaller bike and footbridge could be built above the tunnel with a swing or draw mechanic because it'd be cheaper than that planned dual bridge. Segments could be pre-fabricated onsite or even inside the williamstown shipyard drydocks and floated above a pre-dug trench on the river bed and sunk into position.

Unfortunately mirvac built a bunch of townhouses in the perfect locations.

 

[redbaron_012]

Really, the draught of boats upstream would mean any tunnel for trams could be laid across the bed of the river not under...and if that means flow constricted just widen the river so volume is the same...Anything is possible...you just have to conjoin the possibilities...

 

[computeruser]

he draught of boats upstream would mean any tunnel for trams could be laid across the bed of the river not under

You could drench a ditch into the Yarra. Then lay prefabricated concrete tubes into this ditch as he stated.

 

[computeruser]

Impossible Bridges - Denmark to Sweden. The tunnel aspect is built like this lowered segments into trenches under the water.
Watch this documentary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8_VQbOh7go

 

[Drunkill]

Yes, you dredge the riverbed so the top of the tunnel isn't any higher than the surrounding areas. This method has been used worldwide and is actually quite easy to construct because the prefabricated pieces are made on land meaning less risk to ground crews. The only challenge is that Mirvac have built their lowrise houses in what would be a great location and are soon to build more towers towards the Bolte, without planning or adding a tunnel portal into the towers basement and ground level, you lose the easy access for an entry and have to tunnel it further underneath the developments.

The depth of the yarra in that segment of river is between 10 and 15 meters deep.

 

[computeruser]

The Øresund Tunnel - Denmark to Sweden

 

[computeruser]

They are also using this method for the Fehmarnbelt tunnel which opens in 2021

http://www.femern.com/

 

[Grampians]

...Unfortunately mirvac built a bunch of townhouses in the perfect locations..

indeed...in the absence of any clear provision of land one can only reasonably assume that little to no hard nosed transit planning has occurred. Otherwise the minds that should be greater than the ones here are, if they had actually turned their attention ahead a few years, would have contemplated these exact same problems...and would have done something by way of provisions and planning...but, alas, they did not and we no longer have the best options

 

[redbaron_012]

Can you believe Town Houses with no river aspect line the Yarra river...!!!! How can such a small number of people hold land so close to the river. If they had mansions overlooking yeah you could say they at least used it but those Town Houses could be anywhere...crazy !

 

[invincible]

What annoys me is actually the opposition from Yarras Edge residents to any tram extension over the river. There was a big piece about it in the last issue of the local newspaper (will try to scan when I have a chance) and I was disappointed it didn't give much weight to other residents or business owners who would actually stand to benefit a lot from this.

By the time Fishermans Bend is developing, Victoria Harbour could and should be the established precinct with supporting facilities. The local shops, full size supermarket, post office and library/community centre are already there. It would be closer than Bay St Port Melbourne and help the area until it establishes its own critical mass.

 

[redbaron_012]

A small section of Melbourne riverside has boat access. I don't think pushing it further downstream would add to the variety and life of the city.