Bentleigh Major Activity Centre Structure Plan

The Structure Plan enables us to plan for population increase by accommodating new development with defined heights and setbacks, while maintaining the historic character of the Centre.

Local and State Governments use structure plans to make decisions about developments, investments, and infrastructure improvements. Structure plans can also help community members and developers understand what changes are expected and allowed in certain areas.

Download the Bentleigh Major Activity Centre Structure Plan 2024 [PDF 12.6Mb].

The vision of the Bentleigh Major Activity Centre Structure Plan

“Bentleigh will be an accessible, sustainable, local shopping destination with a vibrant café and restaurant culture. It will embrace its historic character and provide a range of local community, employment, housing, and entertainment opportunities.

The Centre will maintain its community feel with open space, places for people to meet and gather, and a broad range of local businesses, all of which will meet the needs of a diverse community.”

The Structure Plan delivers on Council’s response to the climate emergency. In land use terms, it provides for sustainable growth by enabling higher densities closer to shops, services, and public transport. The Structure Plan supports additional employment-generating spaces that allow people to work closer to where they live, or work in a location with good access to public transport.

In transport terms, increased development density close to good public transport reduces car dependency. The Structure Plan recognises the need for and supports improvements to the pedestrian environment to make walking a more attractive option.

The Structure Plan considers Bentleigh’s future land use, sustainability, open space, heritage, transport, and placemaking. It also delivers outcomes for other strategies, including Our Climate Emergency Response Strategy 2021–2025, Integrated Transport Strategy, Parking Policy, Urban Forest Strategy and Open Space Strategy. 

Current status

The Bentleigh Major Activity Centre Structure Plan 2024 was approved by Council on Thursday 13 June 2024.

Subsequently, Council endorsed the planning scheme amendment to incorporate the objectives of the Structure Plan into the Glen Eira Planning Scheme on Tuesday 23 July 2024.

Council officers have submitted the amendment request to the Department of Transport and Planning for the Minister's authorisation.

However, the planning for Bentleigh has been taken over by the State Government through its Activity Centres Program. New controls are expected to be implemented by mid-2026. Find out more here.

Interim planning controls

There is currently an interim Design and Development Overlay (DDO) in Bentleigh to manage development until permanent controls are implemented. It provides building height and setback controls and other design guidance in the commercial area. The interim DDO has been in place since 2018. You can find it in the Glen Eira Planning Scheme here.