Rye Urban Design Guidelines

What is this project about?

Mornington Peninsula Shire conducted a review of the existing built form character within the Rye commercial centre and developed and adopted the Rye Urban Design Guidelines (August 2020); to provide clear design guidance for future development of private land within the Rye commercial core.

The guidelines protect the low scale coastal character of Rye and result in stronger building design controls for the township’s commercial centre, such as heights, setbacks, materials and other design details. 

As set out in Council’s Rye Township Plan (Realm Studios, July 2020), this is part of our broader strategy to support future design and development in the area, while looking after Rye’s existing culture and environmental identity. 

Residents and businesses were invited to have a say on Mornington Peninsula Shire’s the Rye Urban Design Guidelines (Mornington Peninsula Shire, August 2020). Following the consultation period, the Guidelines were adopted by Council at the Planning Services Committee Meeting on 20 July 2020.

Why is this project needed?

Rye is classified as a ‘Large Township’ within the Mornington Peninsula Shire’s hierarchy of town centres. The town will accommodate considerable growth over the coming years and the valued characteristics and ‘charm’ of Rye should not be lost as the township continues to grow.

The Rye Urban Design Guidelines provide clear guidance about preferred built form outcomes to accommodate growth whilst protecting the valued character of the township. Importantly, the guidelines have been prepared to ensure that the low scale character of the town centre is retained.  A 3-storey maximum building height is adopted throughout the centre, with design guidance around materials, setbacks and activated frontages – amongst others.

REALM Studios review

 At the Planning Services Committee meeting on 20 July 2020, Council also adopted the Rye Urban Design Guidelines Review by REALM studios which is to be read in conjunction with the Rye Township Plan. 

This Review was undertaken as part of the finalisation of the Rye Urban Design Guidelines to further explore whether 4 storeys was appropriate for the Rye Township. 

This Review was considered (along with all public submissions) in the preparation of the final Rye Urban Design Guidelines.

Amendment C275morn

The final Rye Urban Design Guidelines and Rye Township Plan were implemented into the Mornington Peninsula Planning Scheme by Amendment C2575morn. This amendment was approved by the Minister for Planning and gazetted on 7 July 2022. You can view all the amendment documents here.

In summary, Amendment C275morn implemented the final Rye Urban Design Guidelines (August 2020) by applying the Design and Development Overlay (DDO58) and rezoning residential land in the township to Mixed Use Zone (MUZ) and Commercial 1 Zone (C1Z) in accordance with the recommendations of the adopted (Realm Studios, July 2020). The extent of the DDO58 and parcels of land rezoned are shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Amendment C275morn also made both the Rye Urban Design Guidelines (Mornington Peninsula Shire, August 2020) and Rye Township Plan (Realm Studios, July 2020) official background documents to the Mornington Peninsula Planning Scheme (listed in the schedule to Clause 72.08).

Figure 1: Land covered by DDO58

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Figure 2: Properties rezoned to the C1Z and MUZ

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Relevant Documents

Rye Urban Design Guidelines - Final Guidelines (Mornington Peninsula Shire, August 2020)

Rye Urban Design Guidelines Review by Realm Studios

Rye Township Plan (Realm Studios, July 2020)

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