ResCode

ResCode is a residential design code implemented by the Bracks (ALP) government, in Victoria, Australia in 2001. It is applicable to all land zoned for residential use across Victoria and is applicable to buildings up to three storeys in height only.

ResCode was implemented as a result of negative community perceptions of the effects of its predecessor, the 'Good Design Guide for Medium Density Housing' (GDG), which was a planning initiative of the previous Liberal state government led by Kennett. The GDG had been introduced in 1995 as part of a broader reform to the Victorian Planning Provisions that aimed to facilitate market-led urban consolidation in established residential areas of Melbourne. One of the main complaints about the GDG was that it allowed developers to build higher-density (i.e. multi-dwelling) developments almost anywhere, which was damaging or destroying the local neighbourhood character. Notably, protection of neighbourhood character was one of the principal guidelines within the GDG that needed to be followed.

Main regulatory features

ResCode makes neighbourhood character the primary criterion for assessing residential development applications in Victoria. While a range of local as well as state planning provisions and policies (such as Melbourne 2030) must be taken into account by development applications and those assessing them, the code's central features are clauses concerning neighbourhood character.

ResCode contains a number of requirements that were carried over from the previous policies, such as the necessity to Identify neighbourhood character by a site analysis for every development proposal, the elements that need to be included in a site analysis and the requirement for a description of how a proposed design responds to the neighbourhood character of the site. ResCode extends more stringent regulation than its predecessors to such issues as the position of a building on its site, its setback from front and side boundaries, and many other elements of a building's design, including overall height, roof pitch, external colours and materials, and fence heights. There are strict guidelines covering the type of documentation required and the objectives that need to be satisfied under ResCode in clauses 54 and 55 of the planning scheme.

Criticisms of ResCode

ResCode has been criticised by many residents' groups and planning academics for not going far enough to limit the allowable changes to neighbourhood character that are associated with contemporary residential developments occurring in established residential areas.

There are many in the design professions who have been critical of ResCode for its conservative interpretations of neighbourhood character and the degree to which its constraints on aspects of architectural design such as height, roof pitch, materials, fences, and window details place constraints on innovations in design.