Members statements
Glen Iris planning
Michael O’BRIEN (Malvern) (12:47): Glen Iris residents in my electorate welcome sensible and sensitive development, but they rightly oppose high-rise, high-density inappropriate overdevelopment, and that is exactly what Woolworths is proposing for 173 Burke Road, Glen Iris. This site is less than 500 metres from three schools, being Sacre Coeur, Korowa and the Caulfield Grammar junior campus. It is next to a busy medical centre and a local shopping strip. It is absolutely the wrong site for a large supermarket and multistorey apartment complex, because the traffic impacts will be horrendous. The Burke Road level crossing removal, which was funded by the last Liberal government, hugely improved traffic flows in this area, but these gains will be lost if Woolies gets its way. This proposal was rejected by Stonnington council. It was even rejected by VCAT, and now Woolworths wants the Labor planning minister to rubberstamp what has already been found to be inappropriate overdevelopment. The proposal does not even contain the 10 per cent affordable housing component required by Labor’s development facilitation program, so it should be rejected.
This is a huge test for the Allan Labor government. Will it respect the views of local residents, small businesses, council and VCAT, who have all said this proposal is wrong, or will it give big business what it wants at the expense of everybody else? Victorians are watching, Minister. I urge you to do the right thing and reject this proposal.