As one of only five cultural World Heritage sites in Australia, the Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens (REB&CG) is of outstanding global significance. A World Heritage Environs Area (WHEA) was previously declared for surrounding land to protect the character and setting of the listed World Heritage site, and development guided by the 2009 Strategy Plan.

Contextually, the Royal Exhibition Building is a rare survivor of the great exhibition halls of the 19th century, and together with its historic gardens, it embodies values recognised on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Its heritage character, vistas and relationship to the surrounding Carlton and Fitzroy neighbourhoods have long been under pressure from intensifying urban growth, high-rise development, and fragmented governance.

The updated Strategy Plan, prepared as part of the project, represents a landmark reform in heritage planning. Undertaken by Hansen Partnership in collaboration with HLCD for Heritage Victoria, the project involved a review and update of the 2009 Strategy Plan to ensure the internationally significant REB&CG is protected well into the future. The review identified statutory gaps and governance challenges that placed the site’s World Heritage values at risk, including inconsistent planning controls, limited visibility of the WHEA in statutory systems, and the absence of a coordinated referral role for Heritage Victoria.

In response, the Strategy introduced a suite of pioneering reforms: the first regional heritage policy (Clause 15.03 1R) in the Victoria Planning Provisions; a unified Design and Development Overlay (DDO) across the entire WHEA with targeted mandatory height limits and view protections; and the removal of arbitrary ‘greater’ and ‘lesser’ sensitivity divisions within the WHEA. It also established a new referral role for the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria, ensuring consistent expert oversight in decision-making.

The new planning controls to implement the Strategy were officially gazetted on 17 April 2025, marking a significant step in strengthening protections for this iconic site.

Read the 2025 Approved Royal Exhibition Building & Carlton Gardens World Heritage Environs Area Strategy Plan here.