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What you need to know

Essendon Junction Activity Centre Plan

The Essendon Junction area is a nominated neighbourhood activity centre.

The State Government requires activity centres to operate as vibrant hubs containing a mix of residential dwellings, shops, services and public transport and play a role in housing Melbourne’s growing population.

Our role is to develop a long term plan for these centres to ensure that:

  • Growth is managed appropriately
  • New locations for community facilities are identified
  • Transport infrastructure improvements are coordinated
  • There is a clear advocacy plan for State Government projects

These long term strategic plans are called structure plans. In November 2015 we adopted a Structure Plan for Essendon Junction. See details about the process below.

The feedback received during consultation in mid-2015 informed the completion of the structure plan, which was formally adopted at the Ordinary Council Meeting on Tuesday, 24 November 2015.

What happens next?

We will now start to implement the actions contained within the structure plan. This includes undertaking a State Government process called a Planning Scheme Amendment to get some of the structure plan initiatives included in the Moonee Valley Planning Scheme.

The planning scheme has more weight as a decision making tool and helps us to control the future growth and development of Essendon Junction, in line with the adopted plan. This planning scheme amendment process, likely to take place in 2016, will involve a third round of consultation with the community.

For more information call Strategic Planning on 9243 8888 or email essendonjunction@mvcc.vic.gov.au.

Following endorsement of the Essendon Junction Grade Separation Study, we recommenced work to prepare a Draft Essendon Junction Structure Plan. The external working group, which includes community representatives, again played a key role in the development of the draft.

The resulting Draft Essendon Junction Structure Plan was endorsed for consultation purposes at the Ordinary Council Meeting on Tuesday, 28 April 2015.

We called for community feedback on the draft structure plan during the consultation period, which took place from 1 June to 21 August 2015 and included four drop-in sessions and information sessions. Thank you to everyone who provided feedback. 

During consultation with the community on the draft Essendon Junction Structure Plan Background Report in late 2012, there were significant issues raised regarding the current layout of the junction, in particular the conflicts between rail and road. As a result, we prepared a study analysing these issues and developing an appropriate solution through grade separations of the existing transport infrastructure.

The Essendon Junction Grade Separation Study (part 1, part 2) was endorsed at the 27 May 2014 Ordinary Council Meeting.

In 2012 we prepared a Structure Plan Background Report which provides a detailed overview of the Essendon Junction study area and offers an analysis of the economic, social and environmental factors at play within the centre. It also identifies some of the key opportunities and constraints for the area moving forward. A copy of the background report can be downloaded via the links below:

A working group, including community representatives, played a key role in the development of the draft background report. Community consultation on the draft Structure Plan Background Report took place in late 2012.

For more information or if you have questions you can email essendonjunction@mvcc.vic.gov.au or call our Strategic Planning Department on 9243 8888.