Final Central Geelong Framework Plan still unreleased

THE definitive long-term vision for the built form of Geelong’s CBD is still unknown, with the Central Geelong Framework Plan (CFGP) waiting for final government approval for more than a year.

A Ministerial Advisory Committee provided its recommendations about the draft plan to then-planning minister Richard Wynne in December 2021 but the state government has missed its self-imposed deadline of late 2022 to release the final plan.

Intended to provide high-level guidance for land use and development in central Geelong over the next three decades, the CFGP will shape how the CBD’s population will multiply by six to more than 12,000 and provide employment and services for more than 35,000 people.

According to the Revitalising Central Geelong website, the Planning Minister (now Sonya Kilkenny) may seek the advice on the Ministerial Advisory Committee’s recommendations and for the draft CGFP and proposed planning controls to be updated and finalised.

Once approved by the minister, the CGFP will become operational with immediate affect, and be implemented into the City of Greater Geelong’s planning scheme via an amendment,

In response to questions from this newspaper about the final CGFP and the Ministerial Advisory Committee’s recommendations about the draft (which have not been made public), the Department of Transport and Planning said this week that the Victorian government was updating the planning controls that apply to central Geelong to ensure they support a vibrant and liveable city as it grows, and that the Minister for Planning was considering a decision.

The Geelong Chamber of Commerce was not among the 148 written submissions to the Ministerial Advisory Committee about the draft CGFP, but chamber chief executive officer Ben Flynn said on Tuesday this week the final plan’s release was highly anticipated, not just by his organisation but by many others.

“I think it’s really important to get the plan finalised and approved by the Planning Minister just so people have confidence to proceed with their projects.

“There’s a real focus on central Geelong and reinvigorating the city and increasing the density and bringing it to life, and that can’t really proceed until this is signed off.

“It’s definitely holding people up.”

Under the draft CGFP, Geelong’s CBD will be split into eight precincts.

All precincts will have a “preferred maximum building height” of at least four storeys (16 metres), with parts of two precincts rising as high as 15 to 18 storeys (60 metres).

Height limits were the most-commented subject in the draft CGFP, and Mr Flynn said the issue was a crucial factor to be resolved.

“Questions about height limits and so on could be the difference between a viable and a non-viable project, so people are waiting to be able to make decisions.

“And the chamber likes that there’s a discussion around this stuff; it’s important to the future of our city – but those discussion have really occurred and now it’s just a bit of a delay.”