Suburban Rail Loop - Precinct Structure Planning

The State Government is undertaking the structure planning process for the neighbourhoods (precincts) around each of the new SRL train stations, including Box Hill and Burwood. The Suburban Rail Loop Authority (SRLA) is preparing the Structure Plans and is including community engagement at various stages throughout the project.

Each structure plan will set out a vision and proposals for how the precincts will meet the housing, employment and social infrastructure needs of the growing population anticipated as a result of the SRL project. This may include changes to land uses, building heights and densities, accessibility and additional infrastructure such as open space.

Planning Scheme Amendments will be needed to implement the precinct structure plans for Box Hill and Burwood into the Whitehorse Planning Scheme. The SRLA will undertake the Amendments, which will ultimately need to be approved by the Minister for Planning.

The structure planning process and changes to planning controls are expected to be completed by 2026.

The draft Structure Plans, draft Planning Scheme Amendments, draft Implementation Plan and supporting documents were on display for community comment until 22 April 2025. These documents and further details about the SRLA's timelines and opportunities for involvement can be found on the SRLA website.

A formal (high level) submission ( PDF 456.28KB) was lodged by Whitehorse City Council to the SRLA responding to the Structure Plans for Box Hill and Burwood and associated draft amendments to the Whitehorse Planning Scheme (WPS) prepared by the Suburban Rail Loop Authority (SRLA) in relation to the SRL East project. Council officers will continue to prepare a detailed response for the forthcoming Advisory Committee hearing in late 2025.

Council sought community feedback in April to understand what matters most to our residents. The survey result can be found here:

SRLAprecincts_Whitehorse_City_Council _YourSay_Summary.PDF (7.04 MB)

Suburban Rail Loop East Precincts Standing Advisory Committee and Hearings

The Minister for Planning appointed the Suburban Rail Loop East Precincts Standing Advisory Committee (Committee) in June 2025 to provide timely and independent advice on referred SRL East precinct planning matters. The Committee will provide advice to the Minister on the draft structure plans and draft planning scheme amendments for the areas around the future Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) East stations. The Committee will conduct a Directions Hearing online and in person at 10.00am on Tuesday, 22 July 2025 and:

consider the referred matters and hear from the SRLA and submitters in an independent forum
be informal and not like a court
give fair, unbiased advice to the Minister for Planning, the SRL Minister and the SRLA about the referred matters.

The Committee considers that public Hearings (Main Hearings) are necessary to enable the Committee to undertake its task. It proposes to conduct seven Hearings between 25 August to 5 December 2025 (some concurrently):

a general issues Hearing
six Precinct Hearings.

The purpose of the Hearings is for people who made submissions in relation to a referred matter to speak to those matters, and to hear from the SRLA and the Councils about the referred matters.

For more information (including Terms of Reference, Committee Members etc) and to find out how to be involved please visit the Department of Transport and Planning’s Suburban Rail Loop East Precincts Standing Advisory Committee webpage.

Council’s initial position on SRL Precinct Structure Planning

Whitehorse City Council is supportive of the transport benefits that will come from the Suburban Rail Loop rail project. However, we want to see robust and transparent processes in place to ensure the associated precinct planning is undertaken with meaningful community input that genuinely influences the outcomes of the project, together with sound urban planning principles relevant to each SRL station precinct.

Council is looking for the changes around the SRL stations in Box Hill and Burwood to be sustainable, logical and clearly justified. This balanced approach recognises the need for growth around the SRL stations while respecting the existing character of and the people who live, work and visit the areas.

Council is continuing to advocate to SRLA to commit to a collaborative partnership with Council to develop the Structure Plans for the Box Hill and Burwood precincts, so that Council can ensure the plans reflect local community needs and give due consideration to open space, environment, amenity, liveability and our local economy.

Declaration of Planning Areas

The Suburban Rail Loop Act (2021) gives the Minister for SRL the power to declare the areas which are to be included within the precincts. These are referred to as ‘SRL planning areas’.

The Minister for SRL declared the SRL planning areas on 4 December 2023. The Box Hill and Burwood maps are shown below and more detailed maps can be found on SRLA’s website, under the ‘Planning area declaration’ heading.

Now that the areas have been declared, SRLA becomes the Planning Authority under the Planning and Environment Act (1987). As a Planning Authority, SRLA can prepare the structure plans and exhibit the planning scheme amendments.

Council continues to be a Responsible Authority and will still assess planning permit applications.

SRL Planning Area – Box Hill

SRL Planning Area Box Hill

SRL Planning Area – Burwood

SRL Planning Area Burwood

Precinct Structure Planning Boundaries

The areas covered by the SRL precinct structure plans are shown on these maps:

SRLA is a Planning Authority under the Planning and Environment Act (1987) for these areas. As a Planning Authority, SRLA can prepare and exhibit the planning scheme amendments to implement the structure plans.

Council continues to be a Responsible Authority and will still assess planning permit applications in the areas.

'SRL Precinct Discussion Paper' and 'SRL Draft Precinct Visions'

SRLA released the SRL Precincts Discussion Paper in 2023, outlining the Victorian Government’s intention to develop precincts that encourage diversity of housing, employment and facilities in areas surrounding the SRL stations. View Council’s submission regarding the Discussion Paper on Council’s website.

The draft Precinct Visions were released by the Victorian Government for community comment in December 2023. The draft Visions include possible changes to the look and feel of the Box Hill and Burwood precincts in the future, and describe preliminary ideas for how to cater for the additional population and employment growth in the precincts.

Council prepared the following information sheets to assist Whitehorse community members understand the SRLA’s draft Precinct Visions for Box Hill and Burwood:
• Whitehorse Council flyer on SRL Box Hill Precinct Vision ( PDF 1.37MB)
• Whitehorse Council flyer on SRL Burwood Precinct Vision ( PDF 1.94MB)
At its meeting on 26 February 2024, Council endorsed its submission regarding the draft SRL Precinct Vision for Burwood and Box Hill.

Draft Precinct Key Directions

SRLA released the Draft Precinct Key Directions in April 2024 for the Burwood and Box Hill precincts. The maps recommend a set of key directions for the broader precinct around the SRL stations under the following themes: