Yarra Council approves new mini-suburb in Alphington at old paper mill site

An inner-city council has given the green light to the development of a new mini-suburb in Melbourne.

An old paper mill site in Alphington in the inner-north will become a new hub of apartments and facilities, expected to house 5000 people. 

Yarra Council passed a resolution on Wednesday night, approving a revised development plan for the 16-hectare site.

But planning expert Michael Buxton said the developers should not follow Melbourne CBD’s lead and focus too heavily on one and two-bedroom apartments. 

‘We don’t need to be replicating what we’ve got in the inner city in Alphington,’ he told Tom Elliott.

‘There is a relatively high site coverage so it can be said to be really cramming an enormous number of residents and new homes into a relatively small space.’ 

‘There should be a lot more three bedroom apartments with larger apartment sizes to provide that housing diversity for families.’