New maps reveal the heights developments could reach in the streets of Clayton, Burwood, Box Hill, Monash, Glen Waverley and Cheltenham.
New maps reveal the heights developments could reach in the streets of Clayton, Burwood, Box Hill, Monash, Glen Waverley and Cheltenham.
By Daniella White
March 3, 2025 — 1.33pm
Apartment towers as tall as 40 storeys would be built under new plans released for suburbs hosting Suburban Rail Loop stations.
Premier Jacinta Allan on Monday revealed draft structure plans for Cheltenham, Clayton, Glen Waverley, Burwood, Monash and Box Hill, showing that some of the proposed heights for high-rise apartments and offices have been scaled back since last year.
Maps for Box Hill show the preferred maximum building heights near the stations would be 133 metres, or up to 40 storeys, while areas adjacent to the station would have a maximum height of 85 metres.
In Burwood, buildings up to 69 metres – or 20 storeys – would be allowed near the new Suburban Rail Loop station. But height limits in surrounding areas have been pared back to between 25 and 41 metres.
The documents reveal building heights in Clayton would be up to 20 storeys, or 69 metres.
In Monash, buildings would be up to 84 metres near the proposed new station along Normanby Road, while heights in surrounding areas have been reduced to 69 metres.
The densest part of Cheltenham would have a preferred height of 18 storeys, or 60 metres, while above Glen Waverley station, towers are expected to reach 25 storeys, or 84 metres.
A new round of community consultation is being carried out with public hearings expected later this year. The government expects the proposed planning scheme amendments to be finalised in 2026.
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Allan said the planning changes would allow more homes to be built near transport and jobs to take the pressure off the outer suburbs.
“Building world-class public transport and building affordable homes around it – it just makes sense,” she said. “This is the vision that the Suburban Rail Loop delivers.”
The $35 billion Suburban Rail Loop East project is in its early stages. Major tunnelling contracts have been signed, and is expected that digging will begin in 2026.
Questions remain over how a large part of the project will be funded. The state is expecting a third of its cost to be paid by the Commonwealth and another third to be raised by charges around the precincts, known as value capture.
No details have been publicly released of what value capture models will be used and how they will work, despite the project’s business case estimating some could begin to be rolled out this year.
The government says up to 70,000 new homes are planned to be built around the Suburban Rail Loop activity centres.
Suburban Rail Loop Minister Harriet Shing said the government would keep working with communities and taking local feedback “every step of the way”.
“As construction at six brand new Suburban Rail Loop station sites continues, we are planning for the services, open spaces and connections that locals have told us are important to them, closer to home,” she said.
With Kieran Rooney