Unley Central DPA

The City of Unley and the State Government hold the long-term goal of revitalising the heart of Unley by generating new activity, more sustainable retail, and increased residential living opportunities in the Unley Central area. To aid in visioning what the nature of this rejuvenation might entail, the City of Unley commissioned the preparation of the Unley Central Precinct Plan(PDF, 7MB) . The goals and visions set out in the Precinct Plan cannot be actioned without first amending the Council’s Development Plan for the area.

The Development Plan is a plan required under the State Government’s Development Act to help guide new development.
 
Council needs to ensure that its Development Plan delivers what is needed for the future growth and prosperity of the City, while recognising its unique character.
 
To achieve the goals of the Unley Central Precinct Plan, Council will need to amend its current Development Plan.
 
The Development Plan Amendment (DPA) will encourage residential development and set a height limit for the area while providing for progressive reductions in height at the perimeter of the zone. Currently the Unley District Centre Zone has no specific building height limits or envelopes (increasing setbacks for increasing height).
As part of the process, the suburbs of the Unley Council area which are most important from a Conservation and Streetscape perspective will be given enhanced protection.

A further hands on stakeholder workshop (called a Design Lab), with residents, owners and local groups, was held in April 2016 to explore potential options for the Precinct.
 
This feedback was considered by the City Strategy and Development Policy (CSDP) Committee and by the City of Unley Council through a series of meetings from February 2016 until the draft DPA was endorsed in August 2016.

A formal statutory consultation on the DPA was conducted from September to in November 2016 and further personal submissions received at a Public Meeting on Tuesday 6 December at the Unley Civic Centre.

After comprehensive consideration a Summary of Consultation and Proposed Amendments Report with options for change to key elements was presented to the CSDP Committee on Tuesday 14 March where they voted on the recommendations to be presented to Council. Further Deputations were received at the scheduled Council meeting on the 27 March 2017.  Given the significance and complexity of the matter debate was deferred to a special Council meeting on the 30 March 2017 where the revised policy and building heights were adopted. 
 
An appropriately revised version of the DPA was submitted to the Minister for Planning on 6 April 2017.  The DPA was approved by the Minister on the 4 July 2017 and now forms part of the Unley (City) Development Plan.