I am a Hampton resident and an urban planner. These tower plans are appalling

I am a resident of Hampton. I am also an urban planner. That puts me in a unique position to assess Monday’s announcement regarding the Allan government’s “20-storey tower” policy.

As a resident, I am appalled.

Locals enjoy a coffee in Hampton Street, Hampton.Credit: Wayne Taylor

I live two blocks back from Hampton Street, the centre of activity, and have known the suburb all my life. I have seen it go from a seaside village to the vibrant activity centre it is today. That hasn’t happened by accident. A structure plan for the Hampton Activity Centre, just as for the Church Street Activity Centre and the Bay Street Activity Centre in Brighton, was developed with community input to guide where development in these activity centres is to go and how it should look. Development in accordance with these structure plans has been occurring and much of it is already complete. This is not exactly what all the community has necessarily wanted, but it is a rate of change that most can accept.

I can’t see where a 20-storey tower would go in Hampton. Being a strip shopping centre, there just isn’t the physical catchment to locate a building of such size next door to single dwellings and townhouses.

The community is outraged. You might be able to house people in 20 storey towers, but where are the kids going to go to school when the schools are already full? Medical centres are at capacity, and car parking and recreational facilities are already limited. The infrastructure is not there to accommodate such a large influx of people. Residents are rightfully worried that their quality of life will be unreasonably impacted.

Call me cynical, but why would Premier Jacinta Allan make an announcement in Brighton to promote 20-storey towers across a range of suburbs? Could it be that you think that any dissent from residents would be readily dismissed by the broader community as just a bunch of “Karens” spouting NIMBYism?

Residents want to know where these Train and Tram Zone Activity Centres will be. The government has made the announcement, but there is no detail on their websites. Apparently, it will be announced later in the year, conveniently close to Christmas I expect, when we all have other things on our minds. Nothing to see here.

As an urban planner, I am appalled. How can you contradict well-considered and developed structure planning with something that seems like planning on the run? Twenty-storey towers in middle-ring suburbs? It makes no sense. Activity-centre policy has been in place for many years and is generally working well, with the bulk of residential growth being located close to shops and services already.

In my view, high-rise towers in existing activity centres aren’t the answer. A mix of apartments, townhouses and single dwellings make for diverse communities – and that is a good thing. It provides accommodation for the way that everyone wants to live. The government should not be forcing people to live in a format of housing they do not want.

There is plenty of land available in “growth areas” and existing approvals in inner and middle-ring municipalities, but this housing is not coming online fast enough for the government to meet its stated targets. This is due in no small part to the significant regulatory and tax burden imposed by the Victorian government upon new development. Property investors are fleeing Victoria as a result, and the whole industry is suffering.

The government needs to focus on providing infrastructure and creating a regulatory and tax environment that encourages investment, then let the market do the work. Investors will, given half a chance.

I am concerned that recent planning policy is progressing in a way that the state government will end up making all planning decisions with little consultation with the communities who have to live with them and no ability to test those decisions at VCAT.

Last year, the government introduced two planning scheme clauses that make it the responsible authority for planning decisions in larger developments, and removes any opportunities for objectors to appeal those decisions. That is, you can object to an application, but you have no right to appeal any decision the government makes. This effectively removes all of the checks and balances that are in place for big-ticket developments, and cuts out all meaningful consultation and the testing of government decisions by an independent body. This is something we should all be concerned about.

We have a right to have a say in how our communities are to look in the future, and a right to challenge decisions that conflict with that view. That is called democracy. The Allan government is gradually and stealthily taking away those rights.

Nikki Taylor is a Hampton resident, the director of Devcon Planning Services and a Liberal Party member.

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