Glossary

Activity centres are vibrant places where people shop, work, connect with family and friends as well as live. They range in size, from local neighbourhood shopping strips to centres that include major regional shopping malls.

The number of dwellings on an area of land.

Fine grain refers to small scale spaces and shops that facilitate a diversity of activities. For example, shops in Donburn, Donvale.

Separate houses that are structurally independent of surrounding dwellings.

Medium density housing is a cluster of houses that includes town houses, terraces and dual-occupancy dwellings. 

‘Mid-rise housing’ is three to six storey apartment building that can be a freestanding building or situated in a mixed-use residential development.

High-rise housing is a tall apartment building eight storeys or more.

High density housing is more intensive forms of residential development such as apartments, which are typically at least four storeys.

‘Mixed-use’ development includes a mixture of different uses, retail, commercial and residential in the same building.

Neighbourhood character refers to the visual characteristics of a residential area, consisting of key attributes from both the public and private realms.

Preferred neighbourhood character is either:

• the existing character of an area; or
• an identified future neighbourhood character different from the existing character of an area.

The Manningham Planning Scheme contains the policies and provisions that control land use and development across all private and public land in the municipality.

A storey is part of a building between floor levels. If there is no floor above, it is the part between the floor level and ceiling. It may include an attic, basement, built over car parking area, and mezzanine.

Street wall is the front façade of a building, generally built to the front boundary in commercial areas.

Street wall height is the height of the street wall measured by the vertical distance between the footpath at the frontage and the front façade of the building.

Enclosure is achieved where building height and open space width create a feeling of a contained space.

At summer solstice (22 December) the sun’s path across the Australian sky reaches its highest point, marking the longest day of the year. The shortest shadows are cast when the sun is highest in the sky.

At winter solstice (22 June) the sun path is at its lowest across the Australian sky, marking the shortest day of the year. The sun casts longest shadows at winter solstice.

At equinox (20 March and 22 September) the earth’s tilt results in equal day and night. This is the mid-point between the extremes of summer high and winter low sun.

Residential interface is the residential area directly adjoining the activity centre, which may require a sensitive response to mitigate loss of amenity.

Setback is the minimum distance from any lot boundary to a building. This can include rear, side or front setbacks.

Visual bulk is the visual perception of the massing of a building.

Articulation techniques promote a more human scale for building design by dividing buildings mass into smaller parts.

Building services is the area of a building used for loading, waste management, and electrical, communications, gas, water and fire management infrastructure.

Fine grain refers to small scale spaces and shops that facilitate a diversity of activities.

Active frontage is a continuous business or retail use that opens directly to the footpath. These uses activate and enhance the public realm and provide opportunities for passive surveillance.

Laneways are narrow streets that are either pedestrian only thoroughfares or facilitate local vehicular traffic providing secondary access to the rear and side of the buildings.

Passive surveillance refers to an environment where people can see and be seen through casual observation. Observers may include other users of an area, passers-by or people in nearby properties.

Wind impact is change in wind flows from a tall new building which can affect the surrounding environment. Careful planning and design of buildings can provide protection from the less-desirable effects of wind but can also enhance the positive effects such as passive cooling breezes around and through a building.

Passive design is design that works with the local climate to maintain a comfortable temperature in the home. Good passive design reduces or eliminates the need for mechanical heating and cooling. This can include orientation of a building to optimise or minimise natural sunlight to warm or cool a dwelling.

Thermal mass is the ability of the material to absorb, store and release heat.

Stormwater is rainwater that has fallen onto roads or roofs and often contains chemicals or pollutants.

Water sensitive urban design is the approach to planning and designing of buildings or places that makes use of stormwater to reduce the harm it causes to our rivers and creeks.