Toorak, Malvern and Prahran plans released as Victoria pursues rezoning around transit hubs – realestate.com.au

Newly released maps show proposed locations and building heights for homes near Melbourne’s busiest train and tram lines, as the state seeks community feedback.

Victoria is calling on local communities to have their say on the latest draft maps showing proposed building heights and boundaries for new homes in 23 areas designated as ‘rail and tram zone activity centres’.

These zones are part of a wider plan that includes 50 activity centres, expected to enable more than 300,000 new homes close to transport, jobs and services by 2051.

These 23 zones are among the final plans to be released and are designed to deliver more housing along many of Melbourne’s busiest transport corridors, including in Caulfield, Toorak, Armadale, Malvern, South Yarra, Prahran, Windsor, Blackburn and others.

In 2025, the state opened a consultation on the first 25 zones and has now released maps for the last 23 zones. These also include four smaller ‘community centres’, aimed at planning more modest growth.

The remaining two centers in inner Melbourne, covering the entire Melbourne and Yarra local government areas, will go through a separate consultation process.

Victorian Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny said the reforms are aimed at allowing people to live closer to public transport and daily amenities.

“Whether it’s making it easier to build homes close to public transport, townhouses in our inner suburbs, or family homes with a backyard – our planning reforms are all about giving real housing choice to more Victorians,” Ms Kilkenny said.

Spread across the centers, five are connected to the new metro tunnel, which opened at the end of 2025. Eight centers are located along the Frankston line, including one community centre, while four are on the Sandringham line and three are on the Belgrave and Lilydale lines.

Meanwhile, two community centers are located along the Alamein railway line and one on the Route 58 tram line.

How the concept activity center zones work

As with the first set of activity centers, each design map divides the centers into two areas: a core and a catchment area.

How the core and watershed sections will work in each activity center. Photo: Involve Victoria

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The core areas will allow for more homes in taller apartment buildings, with proposed heights ranging from six storeys to as high as 20 storeys in some locations.

Catchments surround the core within each activity center and propose lower height limits, with an emphasis on low-rise apartments and townhouses.

Inner catchment areas, typically within a five-minute walk of the station or centre, propose a height limit of four storeys, or a maximum of six storeys on larger blocks over 1,000 square metres.

Outer catchment areas, typically within a ten-minute walk, propose a height limit of three storeys, or a maximum of four storeys for blocks larger than 1000 square metres.

The draft maps are now open for community consultation in February and March, with residents invited to provide feedback on building heights, setbacks and boundaries.

During the first round of consultation, more than 1,000 people attended in-person or online sessions, and more than 3,000 submissions were received.

More information about the draft maps is available on the Victorian Government website.

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