Riverstone on Plenty housing project

The concept design for the Johnsons Road improvement works is provided below.

Johnsons Road improvement works concept plan(PDF, 88MB)

The City of Whittlesea has received $7.1 million from the Federal Government’s Housing Support Program to build the infrastructure to support the delivery of these new homes.

The Johnsons Road Mernda Housing Project will create 37 new lots, ranging in size from 190 to 454 square metres, to help meet the growing demand for housing in the Mernda community. 

Thirty-one of the lots will be sold on the open market. The remaining six lots will be sold or leased to a registered housing organisation for social and affordable housing. 

The money raised through the sale and lease of the lots will be reinvested into community infrastructure. 

Yes, Council will be providing six lots that will be utilised by a Community Housing Organisation to deliver social and affordable housing. 

Currently, there are an estimated 4,409 households in need of affordable housing in the City of Whittlesea. The inclusion of social and affordable housing in the Johnsons Road project will support social inclusion, participation, place making and economic productivity. 

The project will stimulate the local economy by creating jobs in planning, design, construction and related industries, as well as attracting new residents to Mernda to support local businesses.

The project supports sustainable growth and the housing design will integrate with existing communities, infrastructure and the surrounding environment.  

The proposal complements the natural environment through the provision of open space areas within the subdivision to ensure tree retention and biodiversity. 

Direct connection to the Plenty River and surrounding pathway network and open spaces will contribute to the overall wellbeing of residents.

Council is only able to deliver a single crossover (driveway) that is compliant with Council’s standards. This ensures that the crossover provision is fair for all residents along Johnson Road. If you would like a larger driveway you will need to put in an application for consideration to Council’s engineering team via a Works in Road Reserve form. You will be required to pay for all design and construction costs of the larger crossover if it is supported.  

Please note that Council rarely approves increased crossovers as it removes provision from the larger community – for example, fewer indented parking spots and reserves for street trees. Any additional parking a resident requires should be provided for by the resident within their property boundary.  

Yes, Council applied for funding under the Federal Government’s Housing Support Program and was successful.

Upgrades to Johnsons Road will provide long-term overland flooding mitigation, as well as shared path access to essential services such as schools, public transport and medical services. 

Council purchased the former Mernda Primary School site at 17-19 Johnsons Road from the State Government in December 2015. 

In May 2017, the site was rezoned to General Residential Zone to allow for a residential subdivision. In December 2021, Council endorsed a plan to subdivide the site into 35 lots, with three lots designated for sale and/or lease to a registered housing organisation for social and affordable housing.

Council subsequently amended the concept slightly to achieve better design outcomes and to increase the lots to 37 in total, with six allocated to social and affordable housing. This increase was supported at the Council meeting held on 19 August 2025.