Burwood is growing, and we need to plan now to cater for this growth in the decades ahead, actively delivering more homes and jobs where people want to live. As Australia’s largest housing project, Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) will not only connect our suburbs and slash travel times, it will ensure our city grows in the right places, supporting the delivery of more housing choice on the doorstep of world-class public transport, services, jobs, schools, parks and cafés.

The Vision for Burwood sets out the long-term aspiration for the precinct to cater for anticipated growth. It sets the strategic direction for future planning and will inform the Burwood Structure Plan. Together, these will guide planning, investment and development initiatives in the precinct.

Keep an eye out for the Draft Structure Plan in early 2025 – this will detail proposed land use and building height changes for further consultation.

The Vision for Burwood includes a vision statement and a Conceptual Precinct Plan.

The Vision for Burwood

A thriving urban centre growing responsibly in its natural environment to create a sustainable suburb.

Burwood will be a lively urban centre where the high quality design of new homes, civic buildings and public spaces create a distinctive identity.

A vibrant social centre will emerge around the SRL transport hub, providing new places to work as well as lifestyle and civic amenities to meet the needs of the growing community. It will be home to great cafés and restaurants, creating a unique destination and an inviting place to meet and come together in the evenings and at weekends.

The precinct will build on the success of Deakin University and continue to evolve as a globally connected university and research centre. New populations of students and researchers will generate ideas and embrace innovation opportunities within Burwood’s revitalised industrial land and emerging industries.

New homes and more infill development over time will increase residential diversity and density, enabling more people at every stage of life to enjoy living sustainably in this special place.

As both an important biodiversity corridor and a treasured community feature, an enhanced Gardiners Creek (Kooyongkoot) will be a focal point of the area. Its extensive network of open spaces and wildlife habitats will bring people together to experience nature and encourage the active, outdoor lifestyle that people in Burwood enjoy.

This better-connected Burwood will be at the heart of a dynamic corridor of opportunity - supporting emerging careers and enterprises, nurturing growing families and connecting generations. Walking and riding routes will seamlessly connect centres with the Gardiners Creek (Kooyongkoot) corridor and the rest of the suburb - if you don’t want to drive, you won’t have to.

Conceptual Precinct Plan

The Conceptual Precinct Plan for Burwood is a spatial representation of the Vision.

The plan identifies where longer-term change is expected to occur into the 2050s as Burwood grows.

From time to time the plan may be refined by SRLA, in response to community needs and the detailed technical studies that will support the planning implementation through structure plans and planning scheme amendments.

How your feedback has directly shaped the Vision for Burwood

Ideas, issues and opportunities from several years of community and stakeholder consultation have been essential to forming a long-term vision for Burwood that reflects the community’s needs and expectations, as well as addressing the requirements of a growing population.

Feedback from community and stakeholders has shaped the Vision for Burwood, with the following updates made since we consulted on the Draft Precinct Vision in 2023/24:

Enriching Community

• Identifies more locations for the development of diverse and inclusive housing options across the wider precinct, particularly in areas close to the SRL East station and with good access to public transport, services and amenities
• Encourages more housing options to support greater diversity and increase supply of quality housing
• Gives greater emphasis to the Gardiners Creek (Kooyongkoot) corridor and promote improved access to open space

Boosting the Economy

• Recognises that higher change mixed-use and employment areas along Burwood Highway and Highbury Road will enable greater diversity of employment opportunities, including modern office spaces that can leverage the proximity to Deakin University to drive growth
• Focuses on attracting and retaining skilled talent for priority industries to support future employment growth in Burwood

Enhancing Place

• Places greater emphasis on capturing the sensitive interfaces between new development and existing natural environments, such as Gardiners Creek (Kooyongkoot), to ensure Burwood’s unique biodiversity and recreation opportunities are preserved
• Identifies more opportunities to improve local biodiversity, stormwater, stormwater management, amenity and reduce urban heating, including enhanced green corridors, increased canopy cover and naturalisation of Gardiners Creek (Kooyongkoot)
• More clearly defines high activity areas around Deakin University and the SRL East station that will enable safe and activated environments. This includes a greater emphasis on the Burwood Highway corridor to support higher change, mixed-use development

Better Connections

• Prioritises improved walking, cycling and public transport options across the precinct to make using the network a more enjoyable experience, without relying on private vehicles
• Prioritises safer and more convenient crossings along major roads, including Burwood Highway
• Emphasises additional links to facilitate an improved cross-precinct movement network that more effectively connects local destinations including the SRL East station, Gardiners Creek (Kooyongkoot) trail, Deakin University and the Highbury Road employment area

Delivering the Vision for Burwood

SRLA is responsible for preparing and applying the required planning controls that will help to realise the Vision, commencing with the preparation of the Burwood Structure Plan.

The draft structure plans for each SRL precinct and associated technical studies, along with draft planning scheme amendments, will be publicly released for consultation in early 2025. During this time people will have the opportunity to provide further feedback via a formal submission.

Following exhibition, the Minister for Planning may refer public submissions to an independent Advisory Committee which will consider the draft planning scheme amendments. If approved, the planning scheme amendments will be gazetted in 2026, meaning they will come into effect.

You can stay up to date with the structure planning process and opportunities to have your say by subscribing to our enews.

The engagement timeline for the SRL East structure plans and planning scheme amendments: