Amendment C186port – Montague Commercial Precinct, Fishermans Bend, Permanent Heritage Controls

Amendment C186port implements the recommendations of the Fishermans Bend Heritage Review: Montague Commercial Precinct (RBA Architects and Conservation Consultants, 2019) (the Review) by applying a new permanent Heritage Overlay (HO513) to the ‘Montague Commercial Precinct’.

The Amendment amends the Port Phillip Planning Scheme to apply heritage controls to properties in the ‘Montague Commercial Precinct’ in Fishermans Bend on a permanent basis. It does this through the following items listed next.

Applies Heritage Overlay HO513 (Montague Commercial Precinct) to 496–546 City Road and 151-163 Montague Street, South Melbourne and laneways R3087, R3091 and R3093, behind 524-530, 512-522 and 500-510 City Road, South Melbourne on a permanent basis and listing the Statement of Significance.

Removes 512-512A, 516, 518, 522 and 524-528 City Road, South Melbourne from HO442 as the properties will now be included in HO513.

Amends the HO442 heritage place name and description to remove references to the Part Montague Precinct.

Deletes interim HO442 (Albert Park Residential Precinct / Part Montague Precinct).

Lists the Statement of Significance for the new HO513 Montague Commercial Precinct.

Applies ‘Significant Heritage Place’, ‘Contributory Heritage Place’ and ‘Nil / Non-contributory Place’ gradings to properties in HO513 in accordance with Attachment 2 of the Explanatory Report.

Amends the incorporated City of Port Phillip Neighbourhood Character Map to remove the ‘Contributory Outside HO’ grading applying to 151 Montague Street, South Melbourne as it is now included in HO513.

Amends the Port Phillip Heritage Review Volumes 1-6:

• to add a new precinct Citation for HO513, the ‘Montague Commercial Precinct’ in the Port Phillip Heritage Review (Incorporated Document). Heritage Citations outline the historical context of a heritage place (or precincts) and include a Statement of Significance which outlines how, why, and what is significant about it.
• to amend existing Citation 2371 in the Port Phillip Heritage Review (Incorporated Document), which relates to 506 City Road, South Melbourne. The changes to Citation 2371 seek to bring the Citation in line with recognised standards of practice in writing statements of significance, as outlined in Planning Practice Note 1: Applying the Heritage Overlay (August 2018), and clearly outline what, how and why the precinct is significant.
• to remove Citations 2370 (496-498 City Road, South Melbourne) and 2372 (159-163 Montague Street, South Melbourne) as these places contribute to the significance of the Montague Commercial Precinct, but are not of individual significance.

Lists the Fishermans Bend Heritage Review: Montague Commercial Precinct (RBA Architects and Conservation Consultants, 2019) (the Review) as a background document.

Including, changes to Clauses 21.07 (Incorporated Documents), Clause 22.04 (Heritage Policy) and the Schedule to Clause 72.04 (Documents incorporated in this scheme) to update the version number and date of the Port Phillip Heritage Review, including the City of Port Phillip Heritage Policy Map and the City of Port Phillip Neighbourhood Character Map.

At its meeting on 3 February 2021, Council considered the recommendations of the Panel and decided to adopt Amendment C186port with changes. The changes included:

• Amending the heritage grading of 544-546 City Road, South Melbourne from ‘Significant’ to ‘Contributory’ and update the necessary incorporated documents (Port Phillip Heritage Review including the Heritage Policy Map and the Statement of Significance for HO513) to reflect that change.
• Amending the Port Phillip Heritage Review Volume 1, Chapter 6.40 Montague Commercial Precinct – HO513 to modify the property descriptions for 540-542 and 544-546 City Road and 151, 153-155 and 163 Montague Street, South Melbourne.

Due to COVID-19 and the associated physical distancing requirements, the Hearing for Amendment C186port took place via video conference on Monday 5 and Tuesday 6 October 2020.

The one-person Panel considered all written submissions received to the Amendment, including verbal submissions made during the Panel Hearing by three submitters.

The following expert witness reports were presented during the Panel Hearing:

• Expert Witness Statement (Heritage) prepared for City of Port Phillip (A Hemingway, RBA Architects and Conservation Consultants, September 2020) (PDF 2 MB)
• Expert Witness Statement for 157-163 Montague Street, South Melbourne (B Trethowan, Trethowan Architecture, September 2020) (PDF 9 MB)
• MMBW Detail Plan No.493 (1895), Figure 9 extracted (PDF 927 KB)
• Expert Witness Statement for 540-542 and 544-546 City Road, South Melbourne (J Briggs, JMPlanning, September 2020) (PDF 2 MB)

Panel Report

The Panel Report for Amendment C186port (PDF KB) recommended that Council adopt Amendment C186port as exhibited, subject to the following changes:

• Amending the heritage grading of 544-546 City Road, South Melbourne from ‘Significant’ to ‘Contributory’ and update the necessary incorporated documents (Port Phillip Heritage Review including the Heritage Policy Map and the Statement of Significance for HO513) to reflect this change.
• Amending the Port Phillip Heritage Review Volume 1, Chapter 6.40 Montague Commercial Precinct – HO513 to modify the property descriptions for 540-542 and 544-546 City Road, and 151, 153-155 and 165 Montague Street, South Melbourne.

View the 24 June 2020 AmC186port Planning Committee report and minutes

Proposed changes to the Amendment
After considering all submissions, Council proposed the following change to Amendment C186port:

• 544-546 City Road, South Melbourne be included within HO513 as a ‘Contributory’ heritage place.

Based on the evidence of the extent of alterations provided in the submission, which is greater than previously identified, Council’s heritage consultant considered that a ‘Contributory’ grading, rather than the proposed ‘Significant’ grading is appropriate.

This grading reflected that although the shopfronts have been altered, which is a typical change in contributory places within precincts, that the building remains as a representative example of an interwar period building which contributes to the significance of the precinct.

This change and all officer’s recommended responses to the submissions that were outlined in the Planning Committee Report, formed part of Council’s submission to the Planning Panel.

Authorisation to prepare and exhibit Amendment C186port to the Port Phillip Planning Scheme was received from the Minister for Planning through delegation on Friday 20 December 2019.

The City of Port Phillip placed the Amendment on public exhibition from 16 January 2020 to 28 February 2020.

View the Amendment C186port exhibited documentation on the Department of Environment Land Water and Planning (DELWP) website.

In response to the exhibition of Amendment C186port, Council received 10 submissions.

Copies of these submissions are available online at the link below:

AmC186port combined submissions 1-10 redacted (PDF 8.5 MB)

Why is an Amendment required?

The Amendment is required to give statutory effect to the findings of the Fishermans Bend Heritage Review: Montague Commercial Precinct (RBA Architects and Conservation Consultants, 2019) (the Review). Council commissioned the heritage assessment of the Precinct as an input into the strategic planning for Fishermans Bend, as foreshadowed by the Fishermans Bend Framework (2018).

The Review identifies the ‘Montague Commercial Precinct’ as a group of surviving commercial and residential buildings dating from the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. The Review provides that the Precinct is of historical (Criterion A), rarity (Criterion B), representative (Criterion D) and aesthetic significance (Criterion E) to Port Phillip and recommends its inclusion in the heritage overlay. The Precinct is situated around the intersection of City Road and Montague Street in South Melbourne.

The Review recommends that the Montague Commercial Precinct be included in the heritage overlay with a new Citation and Statement of Significance. A Citation outlines the historical context of a heritage place (or precincts) and includes a Statement of Significance which outlines how, why, and what is significant about it. The following is an extract from the Statement of Significance prepared for the Montague Commercial Precinct:

Why is it significant?

The Montague Commercial Precinct is historically significant as a remnant of the former Montague neighbourhood, home to a tight-knit working-class community since the 1860s/70s, which was designated a slum by authorities and otherwise almost entirely demolished and replaced with industrial and commercial buildings from the early 20th century onwards. It is reflective of the earlier finer subdivision pattern in Montague, which has changed due to the redevelopment of land for the industry during the mid-20th century.

The precinct also includes a house dating to 1914, one of few surviving in the Montague area. As such, the precinct is associated with a now disappeared aspect of South Melbourne's history (Criteria A & B).

The precinct is significant as a representative and largely intact example of a typical small local commercial centre surrounding an intersection and on a former tram route. The precinct is defined by two prominent corner buildings, the former Hotel Nelson at 520-522 City Road and the shops and residences at 524-528 City Road. It is also distinctive within the Montague area as a remnant group of the late nineteenth and early twentieth-century buildings, encompassing the late Victorian, Federation and Interwar periods, in an area that has otherwise been redeveloped. In addition, several early 20th century shopfronts survive (Criteria D & E).

The Review also recommended an update to the existing Citation for 506 City Road, South Melbourne which is considered to be of individual significance to Port Phillip as one of few remaining examples of an early 20th-century house associated with the former Montague neighbourhood (Criterion A) and as a good and largely intact example of a Federation period residence (Criterion E).

Interim heritage controls apply to 496-510 City Road and 157-163 Montague Street, South Melbourne that sit within the Montague Commercial Precinct, and will expire on 31 January 2020. The interims were originally approved in Amendment C115 and extended through Amendments C146 and C152. Council has requested an extension of the expiry date of the interim heritage control and requested that 151-153 Montague Street and 530-546 City Road, South Melbourne also be included in the interim heritage control.

For more information, visit Amendment C185port).

In 2013, the Fishermans Bend Heritage Study, commissioned by Places Victoria and prepared by Biosis Pty Ltd was finalised as an input to the ‘Strategic Framework Plan’ for Fishermans Bend. The Study identified a number of sites of potential heritage significance that were not included in a Heritage Overlay and recommended further investigation to determine their level of significance.

In early 2014, Council commissioned Biosis Pty Ltd to undertake this further investigation and to recommend where identified places required additional heritage protection.

The Fishermans Bend Additional Heritage Place Assessments (2015, updated 2016) recommended introducing three new individual heritage overlays, updating an existing Citation and nominating three sites for inclusion on the Victorian Heritage Register.

Additionally, it was proposed to extend the existing precinct-based Heritage Overlay 442 to include:

• Shops at 157-163 Montague Street, South Melbourne;
• Two storey shops at 496-498 City Road, South Melbourne; and
• The house at 506 City Road, South Melbourne.

Amendment C117 was prepared by Council to implement the recommendations of the Biosis study. Ultimately the Planning Panel considering submissions to Amendment C117 recommended that the proposal to include properties at 496-510 City Road and 157-163 Montague Street in HO442 should not be supported, as the heritage significance of those places was found to have no historical connection with the Albert Park Residential Precinct to which HO442 applies.

In making this recommendation, the Panel recognised the heritage significance of the properties but suggested that a separate heritage overlay to include the commercial properties on the corner of City Road and Montague Street may be more appropriate.

Amendment C117 was approved by the Minister for Planning on 26 March 2017, with changes. The Minister supported the Panel’s recommendations to remove the properties at 157-163 Montague Street and 496-510 City Road from the Amendment.

Further, the Minister recommended that Council liaise with the Fishermans Bend Taskforce to undertake further strategic work in the form of a heritage study of the Montague Precinct to establish the significance of the properties. Council commissioned RBA Architects and Conservation Consultants to undertake this work.