Victorian Government at war with NIMBYs over skyscrapers for suburbs plan

When Melbourne’s population inevitably reaches 9 million people by 2050, the suburbs will look completely different. Not in a good way.

Take a long hard look at the suburbs, Melbourne. The eclectic neighbourhoods stitch together like a patchwork to form a vibrant city — one of the most liveable in the world.

Soak it in because it will never be the same again.

The population is about to explode to London levels. The modest buildings that make up the suburbs will be bulldozed for highrise towers to house residents in shoebox apartments at the expense of character and charm.

Traffic congestion will worsen, infrastructure will struggle to keep up and the slide down the liveability index will follow.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan says Melbourne will be home to nine million people by 2050.

To put that in some important context, the population now is roughly 5.5 million. So an additional 3.5 million people will be added on top in the next 25 years.

Do you know how long it took Melbourne to reach an initial population of 3.5 million? It took 165 years.

The Federal Government controls immigration and targets are through the roof. As a result, the states are scrambling to provide enough homes for the influx of overseas arrivals and to create a situation where first home buyers are not priced out.

The Victorian Government says it will build 2.24 million new affordable homes by 2051.

Melbourne’s suburbs are about to change forever. Photo: iStock/Ingrid Hendriksen

Melbourne from Albert Park. Picture: NewsWire / Diego Fedele

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That’s 86,000 new homes a year over the next 26 years. But how they get there is controversial and has been met with plenty of backlash.

The Allan Labor Government has introduced sweeping overhauls of planning controls that give them the green light to force suburbs to accommodate residential towers with little regard for building height, amenity or impact on the environment.

Hundreds of millions of dollars of strategic work carried out by local councils over decades has been overridden as Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny approves projects that one expert says will turn quiet neighbourhoods into “slums”.

“It’s disgusting,” said Leith van Onselen, chief economist at macrobusiness.com.au and former economist at the Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.

“Melbourne is already the most unsustainable city in Australia. If you’re going to stuff 3.5 million more people in over 25 years, you’re going to need to bulldoze people’s homes into highrise and get rid of the democratic process.

“If you stuff thousands more people into existing suburbs, you can’t recreate the green space and parks. You consolidate a groups of blocks with backyards into highrise. It means more traffic, more cars, more overcrowding everywhere. You’re going to end up creating a slum.

“Get used to it. There is no other future.”

The so-called green wedge could be under threat. Picture: David Caird

Councils pushing back against skyscraper for suburbs plan

In Greensborough, 17km northeast of the Melbourne CBD, there’s uproar over a plan to add a 17-storey highrise apartment tower to its main street — significantly higher than the tallest existing building.

The tower was last month ticked off by the Planning Minister under the newly-minted Development Facilitation Program (DFP) — one that removes local councils from the approval process altogether.

Decisions made by the minister under the DFP cannot be appealed to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).

A Banyule Council spokesperson told news.com.au the council had no formal role in assessing the application, had limited opportunity to provide comment and had concerns ignored about building height and lack of car parking.

Banyule Mayor Elizabeth Nealy said the Victorian Government must work closer with councils and the community on projects of this scale.

“We understand and share the community’s frustration at the lack of consultation. This is a significant proposal for Greensborough, and is another example of local planning decisions not being made by locals,” she said.

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An artist’s impression of the 17-storey building planned for Greensborough.

The site of the new 17-storey tower in Greensborough.

Almost 1000 people have signed a petition against the building, declaring it “would not only change the character and landscape of Greensborough but could potentially strain our local resources and infrastructure”.

But a Victorian Government spokesperson told news.com.au the tower is going ahead “exactly where more homes should go — right on the main street, next to the train station, close to Greensborough Plaza, shops, services and jobs”.

The spokesperson said that since the start of the year, more than 2000 homes have been approved through the DFP.

“We’re fast-tracking social and affordable housing in Greensborough so more Victorians can have access to a safe and secure home,” they said.

But in other suburbs, new contests are emerging. In Murrumbeena, 13km southeast of the CBD, an eight-storey development for 110 apartments was pushed through by the minister.

Glen Eira City Mayor Simone Zmood said last month that the plan went ahead despite objections from council about sunlight and commuter parking issues.

“Reducing 90 car spaces and losing commuter and short-term car parking will have a significant impact on car parking demand,” she said.

Objections to the plans for 50-storeys in Box Hill were rebuked by the Premier Jacinta Allan. Source: Vicinity Centres

It’s a similar story in Brunswick, 5km north of the CBD, where the minister approved a project likened to the Great Wall of China a day after the council voted not to support it.

The nine-storey tower was granted approval in March. Merri-Bek councillor Sue Bolton said it was “worse than pathetic” that just 3 per cent of the project was for affordable housing.

“I think this would be a disastrous precedent if the minister agrees to this and it shows (the developer is) thumbing their nose to the community and running off to the minister,” she said.

Box Hill, 14km east of the CBD is another example of the minister using powers under the DFP to force a major build on a community that says it will do more than good.

Whitehorse City Council objected to a $1.5 billion, seven-tower development last year that will house 1700 apartments over 50 storeys.

The plans were fast-tracked using the DFP but Whitehorse Mayor Denise Massoud said council received no response to its objections.

But the Premier fired back, questioning why the council would oppose the plan.

“It’s probably up to Whitehorse Council to explain to their community why they don’t want to provide the opportunity for more residents to live close to such great public transport options,” she said.

Melbourne's liveability is set to slide, according to economist Leith van Onselen.

Shadow Minister for Planning and Housing, Richard Riordan, told news.com.au the government’s sweeping overhaul of planning is a huge problem.

“The Liberals and Nationals support increasing housing supply, but we believe it must be done with respect for the distinct character of Melbourne’s suburbs,” he said.

“Local councils and communities must continue to have a say in how their neighbourhoods evolve. Change works best when it’s shaped by the people who live there.”

He argued the Greensborough project risks repeating the government’s “past planning failures”.

“Just because land sits near a train station doesn’t mean it’s automatically suitable for high-density towers,” he said.

“Melbourne’s suburbs are valued for their unique character; quiet, leafy streets and well-established amenity built over decades. Labor’s blanket planning changes risk destroying that fabric, without tackling the real causes of the housing crisis.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan. Picture: NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

‘We got the Liberals hook, line and sinker’

The DFP is not the only lever the Allan Government has pulled to drastically overhaul the planning process.

It also announced late last year the 60 suburbs where it will seize planning controls to increase housing density.

The so-called “activity centres” include affluent suburbs like South Yarra, Prahran, Windsor and Brighton.

The aim is to build 300,000 homes across the areas but height limits for the areas have not been specified.

Jacinta Allan said it is proof that she is “a builder, not a blocker”. But Mr Riordan said neighbourhoods would be “under threat”.

“It’s not going to resemble the Melbourne and the city that everyone has loved and has made us one of the most livable cities for a long time,” he said.

During a protest against the plans in the bayside suburb of Brighton last October, local Liberal MP James Newbury said “20-storey apartment” towers would pop up in people’s streets.

A Labor MP told The Guardian they were not surprised by the opposition.

“We got the Liberals hook, line and sinker,” the MP said. “They responded exactly as we expected them to.”