Will high-rise rescue the Ballarat CBD, or ruin it?

While the review is part of ongoing strategic redevelopment - council has more than 60 plans, strategies and frameworks currently on its website - it also comes as concerns are raised over the city planning department's decision to ignore the Making Ballarat Central Action Plan height guidelines regarding the development of 107 Doveton Street South into a six-storey hotel - two storeys higher than recommended.

Approaches to managing growth in the Ballarat CBD, including building height controls, are currently being reviewed as part of the CBD Urban Design Framework, which is anticipated to be completed by the end of the year, Ms Robertson said in an attributed statement from the City of Ballarat.

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Height controls within the Making Ballarat Central Action Plan 2017 - 2021 are a 'discretionary guidance,' Ms Robertson wrote.

The plan remains current but would likely be replaced by the CBD Urban Design Framework and planning controls once adopted by council, she said.

Ballarat Heritage Watch president Stuart Kelly is a long-term critic of what he calls council's ad hoc and varying decisions on height which depend, he says, on which planning officer makes the finding and the preferences of councillors.

He said the lack of mandatory height limits within the CBD was an issue which had concerned him for some time - and his study of the draft Urban Design Framework offered limited comfort.

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"The Making Ballarat Central Action Plan at least suggests some discretionary height limits," Mr Kelly said.

The draft Urban Design Framework completely avoids even mentioning limits."

The city's current planning is divided by the mandated need to recognise and preserve the strong heritage of Ballarat, opposed to increasing pressure for infill and higher density living.

"Do we want to be Frankston or Frankfurt?" one Ballarat building practitioner told The Courier, referring to the German city's successful demarcation of heritage and green spaces from high-rise districts.

"We shouldn't be having these 'either/or' arguments; we should be advocating for the best design and liveability outcomes. Presently we get that occasionally, but too many developers simply bully their way through, engaging inside-knowledge consultants and going to VCAT."

The Delegated Planning Committee approved the 107 Doveton Street application after considering all the matters required under Section 60 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987, and the provisions of the Ballarat Planning Scheme, Ms Robertson said in her statement.

Mr Kelly says he accepts Ms Robertson's explanation, but the planning scheme requires the guidelines be taken into consideration when deciding upon a permit.

"With regards to 107 Doveton Street, the officer's report doesn't appear to mention them, though I appreciate that conditions on the permit do require greater setbacks on the upper storeys, which may reduce the impact of the overall bulk of the building," he said.

He says the new Urban Design Framework is a Jekyll and Hyde document, sometimes sympathetic to the CBD's existing scale (Respect the low to mid-rise character of the Ballarat CBD to protect its unique heritage and character) but also advocating high-rise (Support infill development across the CBD with opportunities for carefully designed taller elements that enhance the skyline).

"Even more concerning it describes the overly dominant and widely-loathed GovHub building as "successfully [sitting] within the heritage context, as the form complements the pitched roofs of the heritage buildings. The varying heights, size and layout of the windows break down the facade, making the building form less dominant."

"At least the plan gave some guidance," Mr Kelly said.

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