The short version
A plan for more homes along one corridor of Canberra, near shops and transport.
It runs along Adelaide Avenue, Yarra Glen Drive, Callam Street and Athllon Drive, from the Inner South down through the Woden Valley. Taller apartments sit nearest the stops and centres, then step down to townhouses and low-rise further into the suburbs. The government calls this gentle densification.
The reason to look now is the map. It is the earliest public signal of where change is expected, years ahead of any rule change. If your block is on it, that is worth knowing.
Nothing has changed yet. This is a draft, not a rule or a rezoning. What you can build today is still set by the current rules. Any real change goes through a separate process, in stages, each with its own consultation.
The corridor
Four precincts, one spine
The plan splits the corridor into four precincts, following the proposed light rail line to Woden and the rapid bus route south. The picker above tells you which one your suburb sits in.
This map shows the whole study area. It is indicative. The boundaries are not precise, which is exactly why a suburb-level read is the honest one.
What is proposed
Tallest at the centre, stepping down to the suburbs
Timing
The order the government expects to work in
Indicative only, not a schedule. Development follows the market, and often lands years, sometimes decades, after the rules change.
- Woden town centre
- North Curtin estate
- Around group and local centres
- Around rapid transport stops
- North Woden
- Phillip service trades area
- West Deakin urban village
- West Yarralumla
- Utilities and environmental approvals, as work progresses
For you
What this means, depending on who you are
You own a home here
- What you can build today has not changed. The current rules still apply, including the missing middle rules from July 2026.
- If your block is in a change area, it may be picked up later in a Major Plan Amendment. You get to comment when that happens.
- Being on the map does not set a height for your street or mean your block gets rezoned.
- The plan itself does not change your rates or land value. Planning changes can affect value over time, which is a question for a valuer.
You are selling
Buyers will ask what this means for the property. The honest line:
The government has flagged this broader area as having potential for more housing, because it is close to shops and transport. It is not a rezoning and does not say what can be built on this block.
The trap is overstating it. The map does not mean a block is rezoned or approved for apartments.
You are thinking about building
Maybe a second dwelling, a knockdown into townhouses, or just wondering if your block has more in it.
- You do not have to wait for this plan. The current rules already allow more than most people think.
- What fits is rarely what the zoning says. Trees, easements, setbacks and parking quietly decide how many homes go on a block.
- That gap, between what is allowed and what works, is where projects succeed or fall over.
Working out whether the numbers stack up is what we do. You do not need to be a developer to ask.
The useful question
So what can you actually do with your block?
The plan is about the future. If you want the rules as they stand today, the free tool shows what your block can already do, in plain English.
If you want the detail
What the draft says about each centre
Mawson
An urban village at the group centre. Government has committed to supporting a second supermarket through a staged redevelopment. Mid-rise proposed alongside the Yarralumla Creek corridor. Streetscape work on Mawson Place is funded and in design.
Curtin
An urban village at the group centre, linked to the proposed Carruthers Street light rail stop. Existing surface car parks identified for mixed-use buildings with basement parking. Mid-rise near the centre.
West Deakin
An urban village with a health focus. Older one and two storey commercial buildings identified for higher density mixed-use, with government-owned car parks the likely starting point. Mid-rise along Kent Street. Land south of Strickland Crescent stays commercial and health related.
Deakin
An urban village at the local centre, around the proposed Hopetoun Circuit light rail stop. Redevelopment west of Duff Place, with Duff Place and Hannah Place looked at as a shared zone.
Athllon Drive
The eastern edge is described as unutilised land suited to housing and mixed-use, shown as an urban development investigation area. Athllon Drive is identified as a potential future light rail corridor.
Phillip service trades
Stays zoned CZ3 and protected from housing for now. The draft says homes could return in parts of the precinct once other development potential in the corridor is used up, or if light rail extends south to Mawson. The consultation asks the community directly about this.
North Woden
The Yarra Glen roundabout would become an intersection, creating a new gateway to the town centre. Taller buildings in the middle, stepping down towards Hughes and Lyons.
West Yarralumla
An investigation area only, subject to environmental constraints including known Golden Sun Moth habitat, community sentiment and feasibility.
What happens next
A couple of things can still move the map
The distance bands are drawn around light rail stops that are not approved yet. The Stage 2B environmental assessment is still with government. A transport and parking study is also underway, and it feeds into the final plan. Parking rules matter more than most people expect, because they quietly change how many homes fit on a block.
Consultation is open now, so this is the moment your view carries weight. Check the status strip above for where things are up to.
Two questions in the draft are worth answering if they affect you: whether homes should be allowed in service trades areas like Phillip, and how work and industrial precincts should change over time.
Questions about a specific block
This deals in areas, not addresses
So it can raise more questions than it settles. What can my block do, how many homes really fit once the trees and setbacks are counted, is it worth doing. Those are everyday questions, and they have answers.
Start with the free tools, then talk to us
See what your block can do, or estimate your lease variation charge. If you want a read on whether it stacks up, that is what we do every day.
Updates log
What has changed on this page
First published. Suburb picker, corridor map, proposed heights, timing, and what it means for owners, sellers and anyone thinking about building.