Housing and Neighbourhood Character Review

In 2012 Council embarked on a process to review the Whitehorse Housing Study 2003 and the Whitehorse Neighbourhood Character Study 2003. Land within smaller shopping centres was included in the review to ensure that the residential potential of the municipality was taken into account.

These housing and neighbourhood character studies are used by Council and the community as a guide to residential development in the city in line with community aspirations and the needs of the future population. The purpose of the Housing and Neighbourhood Character Review project was not just to assess where and how to place new development, it also sought to define the unique and valued characteristics of the municipality and implement specific planning tools to manage how Whitehorse changes in accordance with our community’s vision.

Council engaged expert consultants to undertake urban design, planning assessments and prepare the background and study documents associated with this project. The Whitehorse community was engaged at key stages throughout the process.

The review consists of three documents which were adopted by Council on 28 April 2014 and can be downloaded below. 

The Whitehorse Housing Strategy and Whitehorse Neighbourhood Character Study 2014 were used as the basis of Council’s distribution of the State Government’s new residential zones. Council prepared a Draft Residential Zones and Schedules ( JPG 344.83KB) and Amendment Documentation ( PDF 2.17MB) to support a planning scheme amendment request to the Minister for Planning. These were approved (with changes) by the Minister for Planning in October 2014. Amendment C160 provides more information about the new residential zones in the municipality.

Please use Whitehorse Maps to find out which neighbourhood character type, planning zone and overlays apply to your property.