News / Planning
Calls for Upfield upgrade to cope with increased housing
Brunswick and Coburg to gain thousands of new homes under government plan
Mark Phillips
THE areas around Brunswick and Coburg railway stations have been chosen by the state government for more high density housing, prompting calls fresh for improvements to the Upfield line so it can cope with the increased population using it.
The two stations have been named among 50 “activity centres” where the government aims to deliver more than 300,000 additional homes close to jobs, services and transport by 2051.
They will be governed by new planning controls that transfer decision making over large projects from councils to the state government to allow faster approvals to achieve the ambitious target.
Announcing the final 25 activity centres this week, Premier Jacinta Allan said Brunswick and Coburg were selected because of their proximity to existing train and tram services.
But Merri-bek Mayor Helen Davidson said there will need to be major investment in the Upfield line, including duplication of the northern section of the line, to cope with the expected increased commuter usage under the government’s plan.
“An improved Upfield train line is a priority for our community today and is key to any future population growth,” she said.
The locations of train and tram zones have been chosen based on an analysis of transport capacity, access to jobs and services, and environmental considerations.
The Allan government’s vision for train and tram zones like those around Brunswick and Coburg stations is “gentle density”, with more multi-storey residential buildings in the immediate ‘core’ at the station or tram corridor, and scaled height limits and more low-rise apartments and townhouses alongside existing houses in the walkable catchments surrounding them.
The government will progressively introduce new planning controls to deliver the vision.
It insists it will engage with councils and locals to understand and that heritage and landscape overlays will not change.
But the government says it aims to cut lengthy planning processes to about 12 months. It says some structure planning changes can take up to five years to get through councils. 
Davidson said the current Merri-bek planning scheme had the capacity for the provision of an extra 7500 dwellings in Coburg and 8500 more dwellings in Brunswick. Together, they would make up more than 5% of the government’s target.
Just this week, the council’s Planning and Related Matters committee backed a new development in Victoria Street next to Brunswick Station that will deliver 284 apartments and 3770 square metres of office and retail space.
“We are keen to understand the state government’s targets for housing and jobs for Coburg, and Brunswick and to continue working together to deliver them,” she said.
But Davidson said the current state of the Upfield line was a constraint on future growth, and improvements must be a priority to deliver population growth.
“Council recognises the need for more housing to fix the housing crisis; and investment in public transport services to meet community needs, which must be built along with housing,” she said.
“The Upfield train line has the poorest service levels of all lines in Melbourne and the status quo of one train every 15-20 minutes in peak hour is not enough.
“We have been calling on the state government to urgently prioritise duplicating the Upfield train line between Gowrie and Upfield stations to improve frequency and reliability of this service.”
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