LOCAL PROVISION STONNINGTON PLANNING SCHEME

21.01 MUNICIPAL PROFILE

21.01-1 Stonnington today

The City of Stonnington was created on 22 June 1994 with the merger of the former Cities of Prahran and Malvern. It is part of Melbourne’s inner region. The western boundary is about 3 kilometres southeast of the Melbourne Central Business District. The City covers an area of 25.62 square kilometres, running east from Punt Road to Warrigal Road and from north to south between the Yarra River and Gardiners Creek to Dandenong Road. These major boundaries have meant that the City has evolved with a distinct character and identity. The abutting municipalities are the Cities of Melbourne, Yarra, Boroondara, Monash, Glen Eira and Port Phillip. The City’s name was derived from an historically significant mansion built in the municipality in 1890 by a founding partner of Cobb & Co., John Wagner, who in turn had named the house after his wife’s birthplace ‘Stonington’ in Connecticut, USA. The house is located near the geographic heart of the City in Glenferrie Road, Malvern. Embracing the suburbs of South Yarra, Prahran, Windsor, Armadale, Toorak, Kooyong, Malvern, Malvern East and Glen Iris, Stonnington has an economically and culturally diverse population of around 90,000. The housing stock alone, ranging from some of Melbourne’s finest mansions to large blocks of public housing, is just one obvious indication of the community’s contrasting lifestyles, aspirations and expectations. Primarily residential in character, the municipality contains established and attractive areas that offer a wide variety of housing choice and boast some of the best and most sought after residential addresses in Melbourne, if not Australia. Stonnington is a vibrant and exciting City, renowned for world class shopping strips such as Chapel Street, Toorak Road, High Street and Glenferrie Road and is home to Chadstone, Victoria’s premier regional shopping centre. The many restaurants, cafes, hotels and clubs, the cinema complexes, and the specialty and fresh food outlets including the famous Prahran Market create a special vibrancy in the City, particularly at night and especially along Chapel Street and Toorak Road. Stonnington is not, however, just attractive residential areas and vibrant shopping centres and entertainment facilities. Beyond these are offices, clusters of small industry, mixed uses and major education and health institutions. The City is also rightly proud of its beautiful and historic parks and gardens, its wetlands and urban forest, the range of sporting facilities and bicycle paths, and its recreation and cultural facilities that all provide a dynamic focus for the arts, recreation and tourism. Another feature of the municipality are the many historically or architecturally significant buildings and areas that reflect important aspects of the City’s and Melbourne’s evolution and heritage. Buildings, varying in age from Victorian to the present, are a vital element in Stonnington’s distinctive character. Some of these, such as Como, have an importance that extends beyond the municipality. All these special attributes make Stonnington not only a significant regional resource but also an important activity node for tourism, with national and international visitors alike being attracted to its shopping, entertainment and recreational facilities both day and night. The City has excellent transport access to the Melbourne Central Business District via Toorak, Malvern and Dandenong Roads and High Street, all of which are served by trams. There are also rail links and bus connections. Stonnington is fortunate in being serviced by 15 railway stations, including two designated premium stations at South Yarra and East Malvern. The Dandenong, Frankston, Glen Waverley and Sandringham train lines run through the municipality. However, in common with other inner city municipalities, Stonnington suffers from significant through traffic that brings with it congestion and conflicts for residents.

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Stonnington’s competitive advantages, from a regional and national perspective, are its distinctive housing quality and diversity, its excellent shopping and entertainment facilities, and its proximity and good transport links to central Melbourne. Stonnington is indeed a special place in which to live, work and do business.

21.01-2 Stonnington’s people

The estimated resident population of the City of Stonnington in 1999 was 90,786. Stonnington residents can be summarised as being ethnically diverse and well educated, with a high proportion in well paid professional and managerial positions. Households are mostly small -1 to 2 people. A high proportion of Stonnington’s population is young adults or elderly people and there is a low proportion of families with children. State government statistics particularly reveal:

ΠA high and increasing proportion of residents in the 18 - 34 year age group, relatively high numbers of elderly people and fewer young people:

35% of residents are aged 18 - 34 compared to 27% in Melbourne as a whole, 29% of residents are over 50 (Melbourne’s average is 27%) and persons up to 17 years old account for 15% of the population while in Melbourne as a whole 23% of the population is under 18. Age structure however varies with location. Nearly 30% of residents in the west of Stonnington are young adults and there are few children while in the east the number of young children is much closer to Melbourne’s average.

ΠA large number of small households:

38% of households have 1 person and 71% are of 1 or 2 people compared to approximately 23% single person households and 53% 1 - 2 person households in Melbourne as a whole. Again household size varies with location with approximately 75% of households in the west comprising 1 or 2 people while 60% of household in the east are of 1 to 2 people.

ΠA high proportion of single people and a low proportion of families with children:

41% of Stonnington residents are single and a further 16% are divorced or widowed compared to 31% single and 14% widowed or divorced in Melbourne as a whole. Families with children account for 31% of Stonnington households while in Melbourne as a whole 52% of households are families. This figure varies with location and ranges from 23% families in the west to 40% families in the east.

ΠEthnic diversity:

68% of Stonnington residents are Australian born (the same as for Melbourne as a whole) although parts of the City are ethnically very diverse, particularly in the west.

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Regional Context

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ΠA well educated population with a high proportion in professional and managerial jobs earning above average incomes:

36% of Stonnington’s population have a diploma or higher qualification compared to the Melbourne average of 19%, while 58% are in professional / management jobs (Melbourne’s average is 38%). 41% of Stonnington residents are on average or higher than average incomes compared to 29% for Melbourne as a whole.

ΠA higher than average mobility:

49% of the population have lived in the same dwelling for at least 5 years compared to the Melbourne average of 59%. In the west of the City where there is a high proportion of rental properties the population is more mobile (i.e. 42% have lived in the same dwelling for the past five years) while in the east, where there are more owner occupied detached dwellings, mobility is close to the metropolitan average.

State government projections indicate that total population numbers will increase by about 7000 over the next 20 years. The number of households is predicted to increase by around five per cent. Although there has been minimal change in Stonnington’s age structure over the previous 20 years, the State government predicts that variations may occur in the future with a decline in the 18–34 years old group and an increase in the over 50 years old group. Even with this change, the age structure is likely to continue to display fewer than average families and children and a high proportion of young adults and elderly residents when compared to Melbourne as a whole. There is some scope for the population structure to change in Stonnington’s younger suburbs in the eastern parts of the municipality, where census figures show that elderly residents are gradually moving out of their family homes and being replaced by young couples and increasing numbers of young children. On the other hand, structure change is less likely in the west in the more densely settled suburbs of South Yarra, Prahran and Windsor, where the large existing number of flats and small dwellings cater for the needs of young and older adults rather than families.

21.01-3 Settlement and the environment

Historical settlement and heritage

Stonnington grew up around a grid of arterial roads with commercial use focusing on the main roads and housing located mainly inside the grid. Urban development proceeded quickly in Stonnington’s west during the latter part of the nineteenth century, then moved eastwards. Areas such as Armadale, Malvern and Malvern East were built up from around 1900 to 1930 and the City’s eastern fringes, east of Chadstone Road, had been developed by the 1960s. Stonnington’s oldest areas were a mixture of small to large scale commercial and industrial uses and mainly small dwellings, while close to the Yarra large mansions grew up to house the wealthy. As development proceeded eastwards house lots became larger and uses less mixed. Infrastructure and services such as administrative and professional uses, schools, hospitals, libraries, infant welfare and senior citizen centres, open space, sportsgrounds and pools were established to cater for community needs as the City grew. Stonnington has been fully built up since the early 1960s. Over the past 30 years the City has continued to evolve slowly as properties have been re-subdivided, buildings redeveloped and alterations, extensions and changes made to land uses. The first major change to the City’s urban character was the subdivision of the mansion estates, mostly for houses, from the early 1900s. The next major change came during the

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1960s and 70s when western and some central parts of residential Stonnington were substantially altered by flat development. At the same time the older commercial areas were affected by major redevelopment projects such as shop and office complexes in Chapel Street and Toorak Road. Another feature of the 1970s was increasing pressure to rezone residential land for commercial use, pressures to establish non-residential uses - particularly medical uses - in the City’s residential areas, and pressure to increase the number of restaurants and entertainment venues particularly in Chapel Street and Toorak Road. Similar pressures and changes continued in the 1980s, but at a slower rate. During the decade, some larger scale commercial and mixed-use developments occurred through redevelopment of vacant industrial sites, such as the Como development, and Chadstone Shopping Centre was substantially expanded. Generally though, commercial development tended to be of a smaller scale, involving subdivision and extensions. Residential redevelopment also tended to be small-scale infill, including dual occupancies and multi- unit developments, as well as a growing number of replacement houses on single blocks. The 1990s saw the City’s evolution continuing. While the younger eastern parts of the City east of Burke Road were largely unaffected by the 1970s flat boom, their buildings and population are now ageing and properties are coming under pressure for redevelopment. Sites vacated by schools, institutional uses and a few industries provided opportunities for some larger scale residential development, whereas development elsewhere continued to be mainly infill. In Stonnington’s older residential areas, the focus was on alterations and extensions, together with a smaller component of new development. However, the younger residential areas in the east have witnessed a continuation of the 1980s with increases in both dual occupancy and multi-unit development and construction of many new single dwellings. Stonnington’s particular character is very much a result of this history of growth and change. Probably the main feature of this character is diversity. There is a mix of land use and a variety of building types, ages, styles and scales. Different parts of the City have very different and distinctive characteristics depending on their land uses, age and location - especially if close to the centre of Melbourne where accessibility is good to its wide range of established services and facilities. But despite this overall diversity, some areas of Stonnington have an unusual homogeneity and integrity. Today the City of Stonnington takes in the suburbs of South Yarra, Prahran, Windsor, Armadale, Toorak, Kooyong, Malvern, Malvern East and Glen Iris. An overview reveals a mix of residential, retail, industrial, office and service land uses. Although dwellings occupy the majority of the land, the commercial uses are a very important part of the economy and contribute substantially to the character and diversity of opportunities that make Stonnington different. The high standard of amenity, particularly in the residential areas, and the predominance of pre World War Two buildings are important features of Stonnington’s urban character. The historical and architectural significance of many older buildings and their contribution to Stonnington’s particular character has been recognised through the designation of urban conservation areas. Urban conservation areas were first introduced in 1985 to protect the City’s built-form heritage. This was as a result of a growing awareness of a responsibility to conserve those items that are the product, witness and spiritual achievements of the past as they represent the cultural maturing of our society. This relates to an increasing recognition of problems that have come from inefficient, unplanned or ignorant uses of land, the unnecessary destruction of goods bequeathed to us by the past, a lack of research and planning for the future and a disregard of the aesthetics and cultural values of our historic environment.

The natural environment, open space and urban character

As a densely settled inner urban municipality, Stonnington has a predominantly man made environment with few natural remnants. The most natural areas relate to the City’s

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watercourses - the Yarra River and Gardiners Creek. The City does, however, boast several historic and beautifully maintained parks, gardens and open space such as the Victoria Gardens, Central Park, Hedgeley Dene Gardens, Glen Iris Wetlands and the Urban Forest to name a few. In the past Council has sought to acquire additional open space as opportunities arose. However, more recently Council has shifted its concern towards the quality of the existing open space - Leisure and Cultural Services Strategy report, 1996. Masterplans are seen as an important tool in enhancing the diversity of opportunities available in Stonnington’s existing parks and gardens. A related matter concerns the City’s urban character. As many parts of Stonnington are very urban, with small properties, small gardens and few substantial trees, the broader streetscapes and landscapes have helped in creating an important ‘open space’ impression and thus produced a distinctive character for the City, such as in areas like Toorak. Avenues of mature deciduous trees have enhanced this garden atmosphere in some locations and there are opportunities for improvement, particularly along major roads and around commercial areas. The further ‘greening’ of these areas of Stonnington is an important urban design matter. Development in the past has impacted on the natural and broader urban environment. Council is keen to minimise and redress these impacts in the future, particularly as they relate to:

Œ the City’s more natural areas, including the banks of watercourses, and existing open space; Œ environmental pollutants, including litter, traffic, noise, odours, dust and other emissions; Œ contaminated and potentially contaminated sites; Œ the quality and character of the City’s largely man made environment; and Œ the siting of new development to reflect best practice environmental management.

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21.01-4 Housing

Choice and diversity

The City has approximately 41,000 dwellings. These range from flats and units, small cottages and terraces through to average sized suburban dwellings, large mansions and high rise apartments. State government projections indicate that the number of dwellings will increase by about five per cent over the next 20 years and average household size will decline from around 2.1 persons per dwelling to 1.9 during this period. This reflects a metropolitan wide phenomenon that sees households decreasing in size caused mainly by the ageing of the population and a reduction in the birth rate. In 1996, 39 per cent of the total dwelling stock was detached housing, and at that time half of Stonnington’s population chose this type of dwelling to live in. The other half of the population lived in what could be termed medium and high density housing, such as semi- detached and row houses, flats, units, apartments and above shops These dwelling types make up the substantive housing stock, around 60 per cent, in the City. Stonnington’s density is relatively high at 30 people per hectare or 15 dwellings per hectare. However, density varies considerably across the municipality, ranging from around 70 people per hectare in suburbs in the west like Windsor to 20 people per hectare in the east close to Warrigal Road.

Residential character and amenity

The individual suburbs of the City often possess a charm, character and culture of their own. For example, up to 80 per cent of dwellings may be flats and row houses in the western parts of the municipality in South Yarra, Prahran and Windsor, while in parts of Malvern East the equivalent figure is closer to 25 per cent. Alternatively, parts of South Yarra and Toorak contain some of the most prestigious dwellings and residential areas in Melbourne, if not Australia. And other suburbs display their own distinctive and high quality features. Building styles, varying with age, represent a wide spectrum of Melbourne’s domestic architecture from Victorian to modern. Although the character of some residential streets remains homogeneous, many contain a mix of dwelling types, sizes, styles and ages which reflect gradual development and redevelopment over the past 100 years of the City’s evolution. Architecturally and historically significant buildings representing different styles and aspects of the City’s 100 years of development are an important part of the character and heritage of Stonnington. The older residential areas in the west of the municipality include a mix of commercial land uses amongst the houses such as small scale shops, hotels, offices and industries, while in the east the younger suburbs developed between the 1930s and early 1960s are more uniformly residential. Also, a number of non-residential activities such as medical clinics and institutional uses - namely health, education and recreation facilities - are a feature that extends throughout the City’s residential areas. Overall though, the established nature of the residential areas presents a high standard of amenity within attractive streetscapes. They are a sought after location to reside, with most dwellings close to shopping, public transport and a range of other established services and facilities.

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21.01-5 Economic development

The City’s commercial areas - namely its retailing, office, mixed use and industrial activities - are mostly in strips along major roads. The more extensive areas are located along Chapel Street and Toorak Road and at the Chadstone Shopping Centre. Chadstone was the first large planned freestanding regional shopping centre in Melbourne and it remains as a premier attraction to this day. Stonnington’s commercial areas cater for a wide variety of small to large scale businesses and land uses, occupying equally diverse buildings dating from the late nineteenth century to the present.

Retailing

Retailing is the major commercial land use and a significant part of the local economy. Stonnington has the highest floorspace in retailing in the metropolitan area after the City of Melbourne with 373,000 square metres of floorspace in approximately 2000 establishments. It has a turnover of approximately $1.2 billion and employs over 12,000 people. Retailing is centred on the Chapel Street and Toorak Road areas, the High Street and Glenferrie Road areas and at the Chadstone Shopping Centre. Numerous other strip shopping centres are located along major roads. These vary in size and character and serve local communities. A feature of Stonnington’s largest shopping centres is the high proportion of clothing outlets and the large number of entertainment uses, including cafes, restaurants, nightclubs, hotels and cinemas, particularly around the Chapel Street and Toorak Road areas. Retail employment and floorspace has increased gradually over the past 20 years. Retail floorspace exceeds demand in Melbourne generally, and the competitiveness of the Chapel Street area has thus declined. The smaller strip centres in Stonnington have also been experiencing changes in retail patterns. Effective management and rationalisation of land use is needed to address these problems. The distinctive character of the individual shopping centres is a feature of Stonnington, and historical and architecturally significant buildings are an important aspect of this identity.

Offices

Office employment and floorspace has been an increasingly important commercial land use in Stonnington since the 1970s. The focus of early office development was Toorak Road in South Yarra, but offices are scattered throughout the City, such as in Howitt Street, Orrong Road, Milton Parade and along Malvern Road.

Mixed uses

Mixed-use areas were created around Chapel Street and Toorak Road in the 1980s to provide for more intensive redevelopment of former industrial land. The Como development, the Forrest Hill area opposite Como and around Claremont Street, and peripheral areas to Chapel Street retailing in Grattan Street are examples. A variety of other smaller mixed-use areas exist along major roads. Extension of these mixed-use areas has not generally been encouraged in the past due to the potential of conflict between residential and commercial uses.

Tourism

Attraction for tourists in Stonnington focuses mainly on the retailing centres, including Chadstone, High Street and the Chapel Street - Toorak Road area. Other important tourism features of the City include Como House, the Yarra River and the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club. By virtue of its location and historic built form, Stonnington is well positioned to develop significantly in this activity.

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Industry

Stonnington’s large industries started moving out during the 1970s. Some larger industry still exists in Weir Street but few manufacturing industries remain in the more densely developed parts of the City. Although small, service industry is a growing part of the local economy. Despite the general decentralisation of Melbourne’s employment, small-scale technology intensive, service and distribution industries are likely to continue to be attracted to inner areas. Appropriate land needs to be retained to provide opportunities for such industries. This will maintain a desirable mix of land use and provide a diversity of employment opportunities in Stonnington.

21.01-6 Infrastructure

Transport

While Stonnington is well served by public transport, the western parts of the City have a history of traffic congestion and inadequate parking. Conflicts between traffic and land use needs has consequently been a long-standing issue and various actions have been taken, including local area traffic management schemes, to address problems in both commercial and residential areas. Parking restrictions, resident priority parking schemes and numerous off-street car parks have also been developed over the years to address the parking problems. However deficiencies still exist, particularly in the larger strip shopping centres. Parking associated with commercial uses remains an issue in residential areas, particularly at night. The capacity of Stonnington to cater for future development is linked to traffic and parking constraints and integration of these transport matters with land use.

Community services

Stonnington contains a range of well-established leisure and cultural facilities that have been developed over the years to meet community needs. The demand for these community services remains high and is maintained by the high proportion of elderly residents - including many elderly migrants in the west of the City, increasing proportions of working mothers, government de-institutionalisation policies and increasing community expectations for quality services. Stonnington is generally well serviced with these facilities and apart from one or two major assets, such as an indoor sports complex that could be developed, there are no significant large-scale requirements for extra facilities – Leisure and Cultural Services Strategy Plan, 1997. Stonnington has a thriving arts community with a blend of professional and amateur groups - arts, crafts, theatre and music - and students in a range of courses in the visual and performing arts at tertiary institutions in the City. There is also a variety of outdoor recreation facilities including sporting venues for tennis, hockey, soccer, rowing, netball, cricket and football, plus a golf course, two swimming pools, a skateboard ramp, passive or informal recreation areas, children’s’ playgrounds and formal gardens.

Other essential services

Stonnington has a developed infrastructure of roads, footpaths and drains. Much of this infrastructure is ageing and in need of upgrading or replacement. Drainage infrastructure, particularly, has limited capacity, especially in the east of the municipality where it was originally designed to cater for only low-density suburban development. Some areas suffer from overland flows due to drains operating at capacity.

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Institutional uses

The extent of institutional uses in Stonnington is substantial. There are approximately thirty in the City, and some major ones abutting in adjoining municipalities, including:

Πhealth facilities such as Cabrini, Victoria House and The Avenue hospitals, and (abutting) the Alfred hospital;

Œ educational facilities such as Swinburne and Deakin Universities, Holmesglen Institute of TAFE, Melbourne Boys, Geelong and Caulfield Grammars, St.Kevin’s, St.Catherine’s, Lauriston, Sacre Coeur, Korowa, De La Salle and Loreto Mandeville Hall, and (abutting) Wesley and Scotch colleges and Monash University;

Πrecreational facilities such as Kooyong Lawn and Royal South Yarra tennis clubs; and

Πother facilities such as the Vision Australia Foundation. These institutions service the needs of not only local people but also a wider regional community. They employ a significant number of people, generate economic activity that benefits local businesses and are important in ensuring that Stonnington remains a prime residential location for families and students.

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Map 2: Existing Conditions

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