Council adopts Ringwood MAC Masterplan

Maroondah City Council has formally adopted a masterplan that will guide the future of housing, employment and retail development in the heart of Ringwood.

Mayor of Maroondah, Councillor Rob Steane said the Ringwood Metropolitan Activity Centre (MAC) Masterplan was officially endorsed at a Council meeting on Monday 26 November, following extensive community consultation and discussion with stakeholder groups.

Ringwood is one of nine designated Metropolitan Activity Centres – a priority of the Victorian Government’s blueprint for Melbourne’s growth.

Councillor Steane said that as a key Metropolitan Activity Centre in Melbourne’s outer-east, Ringwood was the focus of public and private investment, employment growth and renewal.

“The Ringwood MAC Masterplan is consistent with Maroondah 2040 as a focus for growth and an important element of the State Government’s metropolitan planning strategy Plan Melbourne to encourage and manage the sustainable growth of Melbourne’s suburbs over the next 35 years,” Cr Steane said.

“The recently reviewed Masterplan will help to deliver a centre for Ringwood that has diverse and well-connected communities, promoting local jobs, access to transport, community services, entertainment, major retail and housing choices,” Cr Steane said.

“The Masterplan builds on the success of the Ringwood Transit City Urban Design Masterplan (2004) that identified Council’s vision for the growth and revitalisation of Ringwood. Over the past 14 years this has enabled Council to provide strong direction and certainty around land use, density, urban design, movement and infrastructure,” Cr Steane said.

Between 2004 and 2016, an additional 1,392 residential dwellings were constructed in the MAC, the majority of which were apartments. Since then, many more have had planning permits approved with a steady stream of new supply currently being constructed or soon to be started. Council’s planning controls have also encouraged lot consolidation in an effort to secure better urban design and improved development outcomes.

Cr Steane said protecting valuable natural and heritage aspects, as well as using land more efficiently, were also important factors of the new plan.

“The Masterplan is also consistent with key directions included within the Maroondah Housing Strategy (2016) to plan for increased housing densities within the Ringwood MAC, while continuing to protect neighbourhoods, ridgelines and vegetation.

“The Masterplan does not seek to make significant changes to the current land use patterns within Ringwood MAC. Rather, the aim is to enhance and improve the existing planning controls to continue to encourage quality development in the centre of Ringwood,” Cr Steane said.

Areas abutting and outside of Ringwood MAC would also be protected with further work being undertaken in the Jubilee Park area and as part of Council’s Heritage Review.

“Council is committed to protecting heritage across Maroondah and is in the process of undertaking a review of heritage across our municipality. The scope of the Heritage Review also includes developing strategic guidance for new heritage places within activity centres, including Ringwood MAC,” Cr Steane said.

Further, the Masterplan would seek to address how the Centre will function with an increase in transport and movement, including ways to encourage traffic to the Ringwood Bypass, rather than onto Maroondah Highway.

“One of the key priorities contained within Ringwood MAC Masterplan is the recommendation to review our Ringwood MAC Car Parking Strategy, which will focus on on-street parking and commuter parking, including how best we can manage and plan for future parking needs.

“With Ringwood one of the fastest growing suburbs in Melbourne, this is one of the most important plans for the future of our City.

“Thank you to everyone who took the time to have their say on this important document. As Maroondah continues to grow, this will help us develop a City in which people can work, live and thrive,” Cr Steane added.

Council will now seek an amendment to the Maroondah Planning Scheme to implement the Ringwood MAC Masterplan.