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Melbourne is not generally considered a city with a history of disasters, but James Norman found that Fire and Flood in the Heart of Melbourne, a photography exhibition opening on Friday, reveals the city has a formidable history of catastrophe. - The Age

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As a brief distraction from the incoming weather warnings, here's a flashback to a time where people were actually rowing in the streets in Melbourne.

The above photograph of Toorak Road was taken during the Great Flood of Melbourne in July of 1891.

Two days and two nights of non-stop rain saw the Yarra break its banks and flood surrounding suburbs. The disaster left more than a thousand people homeless, predominantly in Richmond, Collingwood and Prahran. At least one person died, although there may have been more. It was reported that two large lakes formed on the east and west sides of Chapel Street.

An article from The Bendigo Advertiser reads: "From Prince's bridge for several miles upwards the Yarra resembled an inland lake spreading out into innumerable lagoons to right and left.

The water had risen considerably during the night, and had crept into scores of houses and factories which the previous night seemed to be out of danger. Residents of Toorak on the river side looked out at breakfast upon a great expanse of water, in which many of the cottages built during the "boom" period on the low ground were buried, some of them up to the eaves."

It's neither the first nor last time Melbourne has faced extreme flooding. The city suffered a serious flood in 1863, again in 1934, and in 1972 when Age photographer Neville Bowler captured this Walkley Award-winning image.

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Short History: The Great Flood of Melbourne in 1891

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As a brief distraction from the incoming weather warnings, here's a flashback to a time where people were actually rowing in the streets in Melbourne. The above photograph of Toorak Road was taken during the Great Flood of Melbourne in July of 1891.

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1891 Punt Road - Yarra in Flood | East Melbourne Historical Society

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Two photographs presumed to be taken on 1 August 1891 when the Yarra River flooded to a near record extent causing severe damage to houses and property in Richmond and elsewhere. The location of both photos is at the railway bridge over Punt Road near Swan Street.

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Yarra River Protection (Willip-gin Birrarung Murron) Act 2017

In 2017, landmark legislation passed through the Victorian Parliament to protect the Yarra River for future generations.

In an Australian first, the Yarra River Protection (Willip-gin Birrarung Murron) Act 2017 enables the identification of the Yarra River and the many hundreds of parcels of public land it flows through as one living, integrated natural entity for protection and improvement.

Additionally, to underline the importance of the public parklands and open spaces along the Yarra River within metropolitan Melbourne, the Act allows these to be collectively declared as the Greater Yarra Urban Parklands.

The Act is the first in Victoria to use the language of Traditional Owners in its title, and one of the first in Australia to include Traditional Owner language in the Act's body. Woi-wurrung language is used in recognition of Traditional Owners' custodianship of the river and connection to the lands through which the river flows.

Yarra Strategic Plan

The Act provides for the preparation of an unprecedented, holistic Yarra Strategic Plan to coordinate 14 public entities that operate along the river corridor, to guide future use and development and identify areas for protection within the Yarra corridor.

Melbourne Water is leading the preparation of the Yarra Strategic Plan.

Visit the Imagine the Yarra website for more information.

Submissions and community feedback

Written submissions received as part of consultation on the Yarra MAC's Protecting the Yarra River (Birrarung) discussion paper, as well as a report summarising community feedback is available to read.
See the Community Views report and view the written submissions
Project overview

In December 2015 the Minister for Planning and the then Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Water appointed the Yarra River Protection Ministerial Advisory Committee (Yarra MAC) to provide independent advice to government on the key issues and opportunities for the river as well as improvements to governance arrangements.

As part of its deliberations the Yarra MAC sought feedback from the community on the key issues and opportunities for the river. A discussion paper, Protecting the Yarra River (Birrarung) outlined the key issues and proposed a new management model for the river.

The discussion paper was released on 1 July 2016. It was available for public comment until 8 August 2016. In all 195 written submissions were received from local governments, agencies, friends groups, community groups and individuals.

During the five-week consultation period more than 270 face-to-face conversations with stakeholders and the community were held.

The Yarra MAC considered all written submissions and feedback from community and stakeholder engagement events. That feedback informed the Yarra MAC's report and recommendations, which were presented to government in late 2016.

The government considered the advice of the Yarra MAC and released its response and proposed action plan for the river on 26 February 2017.

Documents

Implementing stronger planning controls - Richmond to Warrandyte

The government has committed to bringing a consistent and stronger approach to managing development along the Yarra River.

This project implements strengthened state planning policy and delivers consistent local planning controls that protect the Yarra River between Richmond and Warrandyte - an area which is under immediate development pressure.
More information about the Yarra River Planning Controls
More information

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Yarra River Protection (Willip-gin Birrarung Murron) Act 2017 In 2017, landmark legislation passed through the Victorian Parliament to protect the Yarra River for future generations. In an Australian first, the Yarra River Protection (Willip-gin Birrarung Murron) Act 2017 enables the identification of the Yarra River and the many hundreds of parcels of public land it flows through as one living, integrated natural entity for protection and improvement.

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By Farrah Tomazin

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The Yarra River will be subject to tougher planning rules and a new council will be created to oversee it under the latest state government plan to protect the waterway from inappropriate development.

After years of encroachment, the Andrews government is set to announce mandatory height restrictions on new properties, minimum setbacks for buildings, and tighter controls designed to reduce overshadowing.

The Yarra River along the Eastern Freeway.
Photo: Eddie Jim

A new Birrarung Council - comprising traditional owners and representatives from environmental, farming and community bodies - will also be established to advise the government and act as an "independent voice" for the river.

"We're delivering on our commitment to protect the Yarra River for decades to come," said Planning Minister Richard Wynne. "Tougher planning controls will ensure developments don't compromise the beauty of our iconic natural treasure."

Yarra River
Photo: Leigh Henningham

As Melbourne's most iconic river, the Yarra runs for 242 kilometres through the Yarra Valley, across Melbourne's suburbs, and to the CBD. However, community groups and environmentalists have been calling for better planning rules for years, particularly around the 41-kilometre stretch between Richmond and Warrandyte, where development pressure is the greatest.

While councils have their own guidelines, part of the problem is that they tend to vary between municipalities and the rules can easily be ignored or appealed.

"The rules are highly variable between different councils. Nillumbik is different to Yarra, but they're also quite inconsistent when oe council is facing another on the side of the river," said Yarra River Keeper, Andrew Kelly. "Unless you have mandatory height limits and setbacks there are no effective controls on developers."

The new guidelines are contained in a Yarra River Action Plan to be unveiled by Mr Wynne, Water Minister Lisa Neville and Environment Minister Lily D'Ambrosio on Sunday, and will be introduced into six local government schemes this week.

Under the strategy, one of the most stringent controls will take the form of a Design and Development Overlay, applied to private land around the river.

This will prevent overshadowing at all times, require buildings to be set back between 30 metres and 150 metres from the banks (depending on location), and limit buildings to height restrictions of between eight metres and 25 metres (again depending on the area).

The government argues the changes will make it harder for developers to ruin the river's amenity. For instance, until now, the city of Boroondara had a blanket height control of nine to 10 metres for all river front buildings, but there were no mandatory setback controls, technically allowing developments to build right at the river's edge if the council approved.

Now, the controls will be stronger - and mandatory - which the government says will make it harder for developers to get a council permit or argue their case at VCAT.

The Yarra provides 70 per cent of the city's drinking water (through the Upper Yarra catchment), and the river mouth is home to the Port of Melbourne, Australia's largest container port. The Yarra River is also one of Victoria's most treasured open spaces.

However, as the action plan points out, the river faces numerous threats, including population growth and climate change.

"Population growth will continue to put pressure on the health of the Yarra River, increasing the importance of its parklands and public open spaces. Unless managed properly, urban development will also increase stormwater run-off into the Yarra impacting the health of the river and the bay," it says.

"Climate change is also a threat to the Yarra, with projections of declining rainfall, higher temperatures, longer droughts and more frequent storms and bushfires."

Farrah Tomazin is an Investigative Reporter for The Age, with interests in politics, social justice, and legal affairs.

Delivered Mon-Fri.

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Tougher planning rules to protect Melbourne's Yarra River

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By Farrah Tomazin Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size The Yarra River will be subject to tougher planning rules and a new council will be created to oversee it under the latest state government plan to protect the waterway from inappropriate development.