Yarra residents’ pleas over planning powers fall flat in ‘win’ for developers

Residents of the Greens-led municipality have been struck with a fresh blow that has been described as the undermining of local democracy.

Residents in the troubled City of Yarra will have their power to object to major developments in their neighbourhoods severely weakened after a controversial proposal was waved through on Tuesday night.

In a move described as the undermining of local democracy and a win for developers, 15 residents with different addresses will have to object to a proposal to force a review, rather than the current six.

And instead of one councillor having the power to call in an application, two will be required.

Residents concerned about overdevelopment in inner city suburbs have inundated councillors with emails voicing their opposition to the dilution of their input.

Yarra Mayor Sophie Wade.

City of Yarra councillor Bridgid O'Brien.

A move to rescind the original motion, passed earlier this month, failed when four Greens councillors and independent Herschel Landes voted to retain the harsh new changes.

Greens councillor Amanda Stone voted with Socialists Bridgid O’Brien and Stephen Jolly as objectors.

“Every developer I’ve met loves this, every resident I’ve met hates it,” Cr Jolly said.

Cr O’Brien said the new planning rules set an impossibly high bar for residents to voice their opposition to inappropriate developments.

Cr Herschel Landes supported the planning changes.

Resident Ken Gomez told the meeting that there was “anger and frustration” in the community at Yarra’s decision-making.

In a testy meeting at Richmond Town Hall, several residents pleaded with councillors to rescind the motion, saying the lack of consultation over the proposal was inadequate.

Cr Landes interrupted residents trying to put their views, claiming they were not sticking to the rescind motion.

The City of Yarra bungled the rollout of fortnightly recycling rubbish collection.

It’s the latest controversy to hit the Greens-dominated Yarra council, which had Yehudi Blacher appointed by the state government to performance-manage the administration last December.

The council this month had to step back on a new code of conduct which would have gagged councillors from making any comments without approval from Town Hall.

Since being elected in 2020, the council has also sparked controversies by trying to increase fees by up to tenfold for local sports club to use public grounds, flying an “aromantic’’ flag over Richmond Town Hall, bringing in fortnightly recycling collection instead of weekly and charging struggling hospitality businesses up to $5000 for “parklets” for outdoor dining.