Council calls for changes to Heidelberg Activity Centre maps

Published on 27 October 2025

Council has shared its perspective on the Victorian Government's draft maps for the Heidelberg Activity Centre. With our intention being to make sure new buildings and changes in the area are good for the community, protect important places, and keep people safe.

We support some of the State's ideas but want to make sure changes are made carefully, with local knowledge and community needs in mind. Council is asking for better protection of special places, smarter planning for new homes, and collaboration between the State and Council.

Detailed maps and thorough explanations of our request can be found in Council's submission to the Victorian Government Activity Centre Program, October 2025(PDF, 3MB)

Submission priorities

  • Make sure building heights in the Heidelberg Activity Centre match what the Council and community have already planned
  • Protect special areas, like places with important history or where flooding might happen
  • Support growth in the right places, but not in areas too far from the commercial heart of Heidelberg and the train station.

Council requests put to Victorian Government

  • Indicate on future engagement material and final documents the Victorian Government's proposed core for the activity centre are subject to the maximum building height limits set by the Heidelberg Structure Plan, February 2025
  • A number of exclusions from the proposal
  • Modify mapping to retain Residential Growth Zone 1 (RGZ1) land with a maximum building height limit of 16 metres, 5 storeys, as proposed by the Heidelberg Structure Plan February 2025
  • Consider the views and latest modelling of Melbourne Water and other relevant flooding authorities, and where appropriate, modify the mapping accordingly.

Full details and differences between the Victorian Government and the requests by Council as they apply to the detailed areas of the proposal- referred to as the proposed core, inner catchment and outer catchment - can be found in Council's submission, October 2025(PDF, 3MB).

Council's requested exclusions

Exclusions from the proposed outer catchment, requested to be removed from the proposal by Council:

  • All land in the Ivanhoe Views Estate  
  • Land within the area bordered by Devon Street, The Eyrie, Mount Street and Lower Heidelberg Road
  • All land forming part of the Postcode 3081 Urban Design Framework
  • The land in Eaglemont and Ivanhoe generally bordered by Waldemar Road, Studley Road and Upper Heidelberg Road
  • All areas more than 800 metres walking distance from the core commercial and rail areas, with the walking distance based on the actual route pedestrians will use and not "as the crow flies".

Map legend and considerations

Top of the map image is North.

A full text description of the outermost edges of the area covered by the Victorian Government proposal can be found in the section Victorian Government proposal.

  • Solid blue - the extent of the area covered by the Victorian Government proposal covering parts of Heidelberg and extending out partially into Bellfield, Eaglemont, Heidelberg Heights and Heidelberg West.
  • Red-diagonal hatching - the area to exclude as requested in Council's submission 
  • Areas and streets without shading or colour - areas beyond the Victorian Government proposal. 
Council's response to the Victorian Government proposal for Heidelberg. With exclusion areas highlighted and overlaid on the mapped extent of Victorian Government proposal for the Heidelberg Major Activity Centre

Due to the short time allowed to research and prepare a submission, Council could only conduct a limited assessment to define an 800 metre walkable catchment from the commercial core and railway station and that on this basis, the submission comments that Council’s mapping of land recommended to be excluded on the basis that it is beyond 800 metres walking distance should be considered as a conservative or minimum estimate.

Victorian Government proposal

Summary of the mapped proposal for the Heidelberg Activity Centre published by the Victorian Government.

More detail about their proposal, details on proposed height limits, other stages associated with this change and future announcements can be found at Engage Victoria | Activity Centre Program - Heidelberg.

Map legend and considerations

Top of the map image is North.

  • Blue - catchment areas, the area surrounding the core and within an approximate 10 minutes' walk of public transport and services, around 800 metres as determined by the Victorian Government.
    dark blue representing the inner catchment, and light blue representing the outer catchment - with the furthest extent of the catchment area covered by the proposal covering parts of Heidelberg and extending out partially into Bellfield, Eaglemont, Heidelberg Heights and Heidelberg West.
  • Orange - core, representing the central part of the Heidelberg activity centre, closest to public transport, jobs, shops and services.  
  • Areas and streets without shading or colour - areas beyond the Victorian Government activity centre proposal for Heidelberg. 
Victorian Government map proposal, representing the core area, inner catchment area, and outer catchments area for the Heidelberg Major Activity Centre, first published September 2025

Description of map

Full text description of the map is provided in 3 parts:

  1. Core
  2. Inner catchment area
  3. Extent of area covered by proposal mostly the outer catchment

Each description:

  • describes the edges of the respective area in focus
  • take an approximate anti-clockwise direction: starting north, then west, south, and finally east.
Core

The northern boundary edge for the core runs west along Brown Street, starting from the western boundary of Heidelberg Park until the intersection of Rosanna Road. Heading south along Rosanna Road then continuing west along Darebin Street until becoming Thames Street and continuing until the intersection with Alfred Street. The boundary of the core continues briefly north along Alfred Street, before heading west along Montgomery Street and then heading south along Edwin Street.  The southern boundary of the core continues easton Forster Street to Upper Heidelberg Road, following Upper Heidelberg Road south until meeting with Banksia Street. Continuing east on Banksia Street until heading north bound to the end of Warringal Place where it then cuts over the to northern side of Banksia Street and continues east along Banksia Street until the intersection with The Boulevard and Dora Street. The easterly boundary of the core starts by heading north on Dora Street, then following the road east along Vine Street to the end of the street and joining up where Beverley Road turns into Burgundy Street. Then westerly along Burgundy Street until the western boundary of Heidelberg Park, finishing off by continuing north along the back of properties on the eastern side of Rosanna Road, until Brown Street.

Inner catchment area

There are 2 pockets representing the inner catchment area, the northern inner catchment and southern inner catchment areas, both sharing at least 1 boundary with the core. Starting with the rectangular northern inner catchment area, the northern boundary beings at Brown Street and continues west, until reaching Hawdon Street. From there, it runs south down Hawdon Street to Darebin Street, continues east to Rosanna Road and then joins at Brown Street. The northern boundary for the southern inner catchment area beings at the intersection of Banksia Street and Cumberland Streets, continuing west until Studley Road. Briefly continue south on Studley Road to get back onto Banksia Street west-bound to Waldemar Road. The inner catchment area continues south along Waldemar Road until reaching Studley Road, where it continues following the road north-easterly until ~130m past Odenwald Road where it crosses east over the Hurstbridge Line train tracks to continue following Castle Street east. At the eastern end of Castle Street, the area boundary continues north along Cumberland Street finishing at the intersection with Banksia Street.

Extent of area covered by proposal mostly the outer catchment

The core, inner catchment area and areas beyond referred to as the outer catchment area are all contained within the extent described. The edges of the proposal are primarily represented by the outer catchment area with the most easterly boundaries partially defined by the edge of the core. 

The northern boundary begins at St James Road, crosses Upper Heidelberg Road, and heads west along Churchill StreetHaig Street, and Altona Street until it reaches the western edge at Oriel Road. From there, it runs south down Oriel Road to Bell Street, then continues along Plunkett Street until it meets Perkins Avenue.

The boundary then moves south along Waterdale Road to Lantana Street, continues south on Magnolia Road, and reaches Upper Heidelberg Road. It turns slightly north, following Carn Avenue to Studley Road, then heads north to Sherwood Road. From here, it follows Sherwood Road up to Eaglemont Train Station, crosses the train line briefly, and joins Silverdale Road.

Next, it runs east along The Eyrie until it meets Lower Heidelberg Road. To close the loop, the boundary heads north along Lower Heidelberg Road, continuing north to Banksia Street. Then continuing east towards and along Dora Street, then Vine Street before joining with Burgundy Street at its junction with Beverley Road. Then continuing north along the back of properties on the eastern side of Rosanna Road until Brown Street, still continuing north along Rosanna Road where it finishes at the intersection with St James Road.

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