Matt Hewson
Two of Geelong council’s contentious urban design frameworks (UDFs) have moved into new phases, with one wrapping up a final round of public consultation and the other available for public review.
The Pakington North Precinct UDF finished the final stage of an exhaustive public engagement process last week, while the South Geelong UDF went out for public exhibition earlier this month.
The Pakington North Community Panel held its fifth and final session to discuss and vote on the Pakington North Precinct UDF on Thursday, April 18, which includes the area surrounding Pakington Street between Church Street and Waratah and Wellington Streets.
In the works since 2018, the Pakington North UDF faced significant community opposition around building heights and overdevelopment, prompting the council to go back to square one and form a community panel to help redesign the framework.
Led by Capire Consulting, the panel has spent the last three months co-designing the UDF, voting last week to present the result to council for consideration at its meeting in May.
Mayor Trent Sullivan thanked participants for their time and effort.
“Your dedication and passion are evident, and council appreciates the panel’s considered recommendations across a number of areas,” he said.
“This process has been the most extensive community engagement process the City has ever carried out.
“Council looks forward to considering the final Pakington North Precinct UDF on 28 May, which was shaped by a representative sample of the Pakington North community.”
The Pakington North UDF will be shared publicly on Wednesday, May 15.
Initiated in 2019 and adopted by council in 2022, Amendment C432ggee will implement the South Geelong UDF, which would see extensive rezoning for most of the area bordered by Latrobe Terrace, McKillop Street, Garden Street and Fyans Street.
New Design and Development Overlays would apply to Moorabool Street and the former Barwon Water site at Carr Street, while other sections of the area would have Heritage, Public Acquisition and Environmental Audit Overlays applied to them.
Similarly to the Pakington North UDF, the height of the high-density residential development at the Barwon Water site has been a major point of contention for the South Geelong framework.
Initial plans suggested a maximum height of ten storeys, which was reduced to six in 2022. Efforts by community groups and some councillors to have that maximum reduced further to four storeys were defeated in late 2022.
The public can submit their thoughts on the UDF as part of the exhibition process, and councillor Jim Mason said the council was accepting submissions until Monday, May 13.
“We encourage community members who will be affected by Amendment C432ggee to make a submission, whether that’s in support, requesting a change or opposing the amendment,” Cr Mason said.
“All submissions will be considered at a future council meeting and potentially referred to an independent panel appointed by the Minister for Planning.”
