Victoria clears way for 2,300 homes at La Trobe's Bundoora campus

Victoria’s government will remove a title restriction on two parcels of land at La Trobe University’s Bundoora campus, clearing the way for about 2,300 new homes, the Premier’s office said in a media release on Tuesday 3 November.

Why it matters

The land sits inside the Unlocking Strategic Sites program, a state program that speeds up rezoning where land is sitting underused. La Trobe University will now progress the planning application itself, and the project still has to go through a full planning assessment and community consultation before anything is approved. At least 10 per cent of the homes are required to be affordable. Minister for Planning Sonya Kilkenny said the move is about “unlocking land at La Trobe University to build more homes close to jobs, education and public transport.” The announcement follows the state’s 630-home masterplan for the former VicRoads site in Kew, another state-linked rezoning now working through its own planning process.

The numbers

The release puts the new housing at around 2,300 homes across the two Bundoora parcels, with a minimum 10 per cent affordable component. Once development on the site begins, the government says up to $13.6 million raised through value capture on the land sale will be put back into projects serving the surrounding area. The Premier’s office also attached broader jobs figures to the announcement: more than 20,000 jobs supported, about 3,000 construction jobs a year, and $3.5 billion in Gross Regional Product over 10 years, though the release does not break down how those totals are calculated or over what area they apply. The two parcels are described as part of La Trobe’s wider $5 billion University City masterplan, which according to the release targets around 9,000 homes across the broader precinct alongside facilities to support more than 40,000 students.

What’s next

La Trobe University now has to lodge and progress its own application for the two parcels, which will go through a full planning assessment and a community consultation process rather than proceeding automatically once the title restriction is lifted. The $13.6 million in reinvestment funding is tied to development starting, not to the rezoning itself, so it will not flow until construction on the site is under way. Minister for Economic Development Anthony Carbines made the announcement, and Member for Bundoora Colin Brooks welcomed it as part of the wider university precinct plan. The release gives no timeline for the application or for a planning decision.