Our city is home to many kilometres of historically significant landscaping called dry stone walls.
Dating back to the mid 1800s, they form some of the earliest property boundaries and agricultural infrastructure in the City of Whittlesea. The walls are protected by our planning scheme. Permits are needed to remove stones or alter the walls in any way, even on private property.
In 2024, the City of Whittlesea released a Dry Stone Wall Toolkit developed with funding provided by the Victorian Planning Authority.
Dry Stone Wall Design Guidelines
The toolkit includes the Dry Stone Wall Design Guidelines, which provides directions and recommendations on planning, designing and integrating dry stone walls in our built environment and landscapes.
Download the Dry Stone Wall Design Guidelines(PDF, 4MB)
Dry Stone Wall Management Plan
The toolkit also contains a comprehensive guide to writing a Dry Stone Wall Management Plan, along with explanations on the importance of dry stone wall protection.
Download the guide to writing a Dry Stone Wall Management Plan(PDF, 1MB)
Dry Stone Wall Mapping App
The City of Whittlesea has developed an app to assist with recording data during dry stone wall field surveys.
The app's technical guide provides a workflow and definitions for the data items, values and examples for the cells in the app.
Download the Dry Stone Wall app tech guide(PDF, 1MB)
Dry Stone Wall General User Guide
This guide shows users how to set up the Dry Stone Wall Mapping App on their smart devices and provides general instructions on navigating the app and entering data.
Download the Download the Dry Stone Wall app user guide(PDF, 878KB)
If you require further assistance, please contact us on 03 9217 2170 or email buildplan@whittlesea.vic.gov.au