Moreland Council’s Design Excellence Scorecard has facilitated another quality design outcome with the approval of a significant compliant development at 6-8 Wilson Avenue, Brunswick, Victoria, delivering 100 percent affordable housing.
The Moreland Design Excellence Scorecard is a planning tool that seeks to establish a benchmark for design excellence for medium and high density residential developments, over and above the standard planning scheme requirements.
Moreland City Council mayor, Lambros Tapinos said the voluntary Scorecard initiative was encouraging high quality proposals which consider the needs of a growing population and the natural and built environment.
“Even though it is still in its trial phase, the Scorecard has facilitated five approvals of high-quality developments enhancing liveability, affordability and sustainability in urban design and development in Moreland.
“The design quality decisions we make today will affect our community in the long term and Council is striving to make those decisions good ones for Moreland’s future.”
The Scorecard requires developments to meet exceptionally high standards of four key criteria areas; building design and materials, environmentally sustainable design and building performance, building accessibility, and community benefit.
The new development in Brunswick will deliver 100 percent affordable housing, managed through a not-for-profit housing provider. All apartments are also fully compliant with accessibility standards.
The environmentally sustainable design criteria of the Scorecard ensure developments make a positive contribution to the built environment as well as enhance its environmental performance.
The Wilson Avenue development incorporates environmentally sustainable initiatives including solar panels, communal open space and green infrastructure, and very high energy efficiency (7.5 star NAThers rating and gas free).
Moreland Council is committed to creating opportunities for affordable housing. In other projects, Moreland recently became the first council to partner with social enterprise Homes for Homes.
Planning applicants can now elect to contribute a percentage of sale funds on townhouse developments towards new affordable housing in Moreland.
