Tuesday, 10 September 2024

Planning policy

David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (18:23): (1123) I want to raise a matter for the attention of the Minister for Planning tonight, and it concerns the government’s announced declaration of 10 zones, three of which are in my area: Moorabbin, Chadstone and Camberwell. I think these names are actually quite misleading. They should be called Boroondara, Stonnington–Monash and Bayside–Glen Eira – or Bayside–Kingston would be a more accurate reflection. There are tens of thousands of households that are being impacted here, literally tens of thousands of households, and the density that is proposed is huge. Essentially in some central nub, or hub, there are at least 12 storeys being proposed. In the so-called catchment area, which I think is an Orwellian description, there are up to six storeys as of right now being proposed. So for normal, everyday suburban streets, neighbourhood residential zones, which were imposed by Matthew Guy to protect areas, are going to be overturned. It will be open season on six-storey development. I say that councils and communities should have been consulted. They should have been told about this before it was promulgated, before the process began. Councils and communities should have been absolutely central to any process to change the planning arrangements because this has the potential to destroy the character of many of these areas in Melbourne. In my area, in the Boroondara hub, it sweeps way down – it is many kilometres long. In Moorabbin, sweeping across into Bayside, down into Sandringham, across into Glen Eira and Kingston, these are huge –

Georgie Crozier interjected.

David DAVIS: The residents are very concerned. Ms Crozier and Mr Rowswell were at a public meeting the other night about the Suburban Rail Loop, but many are equally concerned about these very big and dense developments. I have also heard from the mayor of Maroondah and from other councils that the government did not consult with anyone on the declaration of these catchment areas. So you have got Maroondah, which I have asked about, and down into Glen Eira it has been quite clear. Stonnington has made commentary, and Bayside and Boroondara. All of them have made direct commentary that the catchment areas that are described – up to six storeys as of right – have not had any consultation at all. So what I am seeking for the minister to do is to pause these, to stop these and to go back through a proper process of consultation. The minister should meet with the councils and meet with the community before any further steps are taken.