In March 2017, Minister Wynne announced reform to residential zones, which included a new minimum garden area requirement which had not been the subject of consultation with industry (Amendment VC143 Garden Area).

Master Builders Victoria made a variety of submissions to government, following the surprise introduction of this new policy, particularly around the concern that this would have a detrimental effect on the ability to increase density in existing suburbs (and ironically undermine the Government’s objectives in Plan Melbourne to establish more housing in existing suburbs).

The new minimum garden area requirement was introduced to land zoned Neighbourhood Residential Zone and General Residential Zone to be met when:

constructing or extending a dwelling or residential building; or
subdividing land to create a vacant residential lot less than 400 square metres in area

Of concern were the removal of certain areas such as permeable driveways and car parking spaces from the definition of garden area, as well as the uncertainty about the application of other aspects of buildings like eaves, pergolas, basements and patios. There have been a number of VCAT hearings and delays associated with the uncertainty that this policy created.

Following consultation with industry in 2017, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) has now released guidance to clarify some of the definitions of garden area requirements. Whilst some of the concerning aspects of the policy such as driveways continue to be excluded from the definition of garden area, the Government has provided the following definition of garden area – that helpfully allows pergolas, unroofed patios and eaves (not greater than 600mm in width) to be included in garden areas.

Guidance provided by DELWP includes:

Applying the minimum garden area requirement, Planning Practice Note 84
Amendment VC 143, Planning Advisory Note 69

You can also access information at planning.vic.gov.au

Master Builders urges the Government to continue to monitor the application of the garden zones requirement to ensure that there is clarity, information and tailoring of the policy over time.