Thursday, 11 September 2025

Housing

David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (17:44): (1971) My matter for the adjournment tonight is for the attention of the Minister for Planning. We have seen this week a series of maps released of high-density, high-rise development across many parts of Melbourne – 20 indeed of the 60 that have been listed by the government for this intense high-rise, high-density development treatment. Certainly ‘treatment’ is the word for it, because this overrides councils, it overrides communities and it takes away planning control that for many years has been democratically linked with local government. A number of these have not been released in full detail or in a way that enables the community to understand. Earlier today I asked the minister to release all the submissions on which the government had relied to date and all of the forthcoming submissions in any discussions that they have.

There are a couple of areas in particular in the Southern Metropolitan Region that I want to focus on. Ashburton has been told that there will be a high-rise, high-density development up to four storeys, but the maps have not yet been released. The government needs to come and actually meet with the community properly, host a proper open forum – not their half-baked approach – and come clean on what is going to happen to the 800-metre zone around Ashburton.

In the case of the Glen Waverley line that runs in Stonnington to the south of Ashburton, Glen Iris, Holmesglen, Darling and East Malvern stations and the 800-metre zone that the government announced would be around those, there is a lack of clarity here. The government has announced in the Stonnington wedge a series of maps, many of which are very, very high rise and very impactful, but they have not been clear about what will happen on the Boroondara side on the north of Gardiners Creek. That is within the 800-metre zone. I think people are entitled to be concerned, because the earlier planning amendments that were put in place certainly allow high-rise, high-density development to occur, potentially with a significant area around that development. Those maps have not been released for the north of the Gardiners Creek area. What is going to happen there? It is time that the government came clean. The government tried to intimate that it might not allow development in that area. I certainly would see intense high-rise development of up to 20 storeys as entirely inappropriate there. But they have not made public announcements that they are stepping back from that. There is just an absence of maps. So it is time the government came clean and released the maps, and the minister should do so.