Set to soar: Is a high-rise coming to a suburb near you?
The Allan government has announced 25 new suburban tower locations with Brighton, South Yarra, Malvern and Prahran in the mix. See the full list here.
Victoria
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The Allan government has revealed its next 25 suburban tower locations, with high-rise apartments set to blanket Melbourne’s southeast.
Elsternwick, Windsor and Caulfield are among the new suburbs which the government has targeted in a bid to squeeze as much density near train stations as possible.
Brunswick, Ashburton and Kew Junction will also host the high-rise towers.
The extra locations, which were announced by Premier Jacinta Allan in Noble Park on Thursday, are expected to ignite further community fury.
The apartment blitz has been at the centre of the state government’s housing policy, aimed at building more homes near transport hubs and growing the inner and middle suburbs.
Developers will be given additional planning powers to fast-track the high rise apartments across 60 locations, which are set to host an extra 360,000 homes.
Middle Brighton was announced among 25 high rise apartments hot spots – dubbed “activity centres” – in October last year, prompting furious locals to heckle the Premier outside the Half Moon Hotel on Church St.
It comes after Ms Allan and Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny walked back a plan to green light six-storey developments on quiet suburban streets surrounding 10 original “activity centres”, following fierce community backlash.
Under the new plans, a 10-minute walkable catchment area around the high rise hub will feature buildings up to six storeys closer to stations, and up to three on the fringe.
Towers of up to 20 storeys will be given the go-ahead in Ringwood in Melbourne’s east, and up to 16 storeys will be approved in Frankston in the city’s southeast.
Camberwell Junction, Broadmeadows, Chadstone, Epping and Moorabbin are set for apartment buildings up to 12 storeys, while 10 storeys will be approved in Niddrie, North Essendon and Preston.
Local residents and businesses will have no say over the increased height limits in the “core” but will keep the power to object to lower-level developments.
Four suburban high rise hubs were announced for Bayside in October last year, including Hampton and Sandringham, while seven, including Toorak and Malvern, were earmarked for Stonnington.
Other suburbs include Hawthorn, Carnegie, Oakleigh, West Footscray, Mitcham and Nunawading.
The final planning controls, including height limits, for the 25 announced last year are yet to be announced.
It was unclear how high the towers in the 25 additional locations could soar.
It is expected, however, that they could be built up to 20 storeys.
Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny said the government would carry out consultations over the coming months before revealing final height limits for each suburb.
Premier Jacinta Allan on Thursday said she was awaiting the “fear mongers”, accusing those who oppose the radical plan of blocking homes for young Victorians.
Ms Kilkenny said consultations with communities and councils will begin in April for the first 25 “activity centres”, which include North Brighton, Tooronga and Glen Iris.
She said the process would include “pop-ups” at farmers markets and community events.
It was unclear when consultations on the extra 25 hubs would begin, but official height limits for all 60 are expected to be announced by early next year.
Brighton MP James Newbury, who led the protest against the Premier last year, labelled the controversial plan the “longest political suicide note in Victoria’s history” as he called on Melburnians to “stand up” against the tower roll out.
“Bendigo based Jacinta Allan has announced the longest political suicide note in Victoria’s history, confirming Labor will torch alight sixty suburbs across Melbourne, including several in Bayside, and rush in high-rise towers,” he said.
Mr Newbury said the suburban “attack” could cost the Albanese government votes at the upcoming election, noting a series of locations were announced today in the marginal federal Labor seat of Macnamara.
Merri-bek City Council Mayor Helen Davidson welcomed two new high rise hubs, located in Coburg and Brunswick, but warned that the Upfield train line needed an urgent upgrade to cater for thousands more residents.
“The Upfield train line has the poorest service levels of all lines in Melbourne and the status quo of one train every 15-20 minutes in peak hour is not enough,” she said.
“We have been calling on the state government to urgently prioritise duplicating the Upfield train line between Gowrie and Upfield stations to improve frequency and reliability of this service.”
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