Planning powers over Markham Estate in Ashburton returned to Boroondara Council in late night vote

AN URGENT late-night push in State Parliament’s upper house has seen planning powers over Ashburton’s Markham Estate taken away from the State Government.

A LATE-NIGHT motion in the upper house of Victorian Parliament has seen planning powers of Ashburton’s Markham Estate returned to the Boroondara Council.

In a rare move, Southern Metropolitan state Liberal MP David Davis put the urgent motion to the house late on Thursday, the same night as their marathon session debating the euthanasia bill.

Mr Davis told the Leader that an earlier motion on Wednesday had been blocked by Labor MPs, who he said stalled until a cut off time of 5pm to avoid voting.

The motion rescinds Amendment C251 to the Boroondara Planning Scheme, an amendment that took planning power over the site away from the council and gave it to the State Government.

Plans for the 1.4ha site included 240 individual apartments made up of both public and private dwellings.

Burwood state Liberal MP Graham Watt, whose electorate covers Ashburton, said that the result was “a victory for the local community and for democracy”.

“It will restore community rights, it has returned council responsibility for the planning on the site and it has also restored public appeal rights,” he said.

State Housing Minister Martin Foley hit back at the move and said it would make planned public housing on the site more expensive.

“This pathetic, political posturing by Matthew Guy and the Greens is a dangerous political stunt,” Mr Foley said.

“This desperate decision has put housing and jobs at risk and will leave vulnerable Victorians in desperate need of public housing with nowhere to go.”