‘No-brainer’: Allan govt forced to expand Urban Growth Boundary or give up 1600 affordable homes
The Allan government has been accused of paying lip service to meeting its housing targets as it blocks plans to redevelop Keysborough Golf Club for housing.
Victoria
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The Allan government will be wedged into expanding Melbourne’s urban boundary or blocking 1600 new homes close to shops and transport as developers forge ahead with a $1.3 billion housing project.
As Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny maps out a plan to shove thousands of high rise apartments into suburbs like Brighton, Frankston and Ringwood, a key proposal to build hundreds of affordable townhouses and freestanding homes, new sporting facilities, and a brand-new golf course in her own backyard remains on the back burner.
As revealed by the Herald Sun on Monday, the government has threatened to strip councils of their planning powers if they fail to meet ambitious 2051 housing targets.
Despite the push for more homes, a long-held plan to transform the Keysborough Golf Club – Victoria’s oldest – into more than 1000 homes, and rebuild the popular club nearby, has been blocked by the state government due to a decades old planning decision.
The site sits just outside Ms Kilkenny’s seat of Carrum, and is walking distance from shops and buses.
Despite being surrounded by thousands of homes, the land was cut out of Melbourne’s Urban Growth Boundary and placed in the ‘green-wedge’, meaning no housing can be built on the site.
After a years-long battle to expand the boundary, fed up developers hit go on the three-tired proposal on Monday, submitting permit applications to the City of Greater Dandenong Council.
The move will corner the state government, who will either have to commit to changing the boundary or give up 1600 new homes as it pushes on with a commitment to build 80,000 homes a year.
Under the state legislation, Ms Kilkenny, would need to seek approval from both houses of parliament.
Veteran demographic and urban researcher Rob Burgess said the government’s refusal to shift the “arbitrary line” was locking families out of affordable homes.
“This is the politicisation of a process which should be far more simple,” he said.
The golf club is understood to have opted out of the boundary in the early 2000s to escape paying higher taxes.
As part of the package, by Intrapac Property, a new privately funded $60m course would be built less than 5km away on an empty paddock.
And the $59m first stage of a new sports precinct known as the South East Sports Hub would be erected next door.
Intrapac chief executive Max Shifman said if the state government refuses to budge, it will prove they are only “paying lip service to meeting their housing targets”.
Noting that Greater Dandenong Council will be forced to accommodate 52,500 new homes by 2051, Mr Shifman said there was “no way this can be reached relying on current land supply”.
Project ambassador, Matilda’s legend Theresa Deas, who grew up in the area, called the developments a “no-brainer” and a chance to turn a “wasteland” into more grassed areas and sporting fields.
The project is estimated to pump $1.3 billion into the Victorian economy, and support over 7,000 jobs over the construction period.
Opposition spokesman for planning Richard Riordan said while Ms Kilkenny has been “quick to force change on thousands of neighbourhoods” across Melbourne, she is “failing in her own back yard”.
“Why is the Governments only solution to a housing crisis 20 story towers in built up areas, when there are thousands of potential building sites left lifeless on the Ministers desk awaiting decisions,” he said.
A Victorian Government spokesperson said the city’s green wedges “help make Melbourne one of the best cities in the world to call home”.
“More housing doesn’t have to come at the expense of our green wedges and Victorians have told us they want to protect these areas against over-development,” she said.
“We know we need more homes, but where these homes go matters - that’s why we’ve been focused on getting more homes off the ground in areas close to train stations, trams, jobs and services.”
Ms Kilkenny on Tuesday refused to consider an expansion of the boundary, arguing Melbourne’s green wedges were what “makes Melbourne so liveable” and that the “green and open spaces” must be preserved.
Drone footage of the empty plots of land, however, shows dozens of hectares of derelict paddocks, with few trees and bushes.
The video was taken earlier this month in Bangholme where developers are fighting to establish sports fields, including soccer pitches and netball courts, leisure facilities, and green public spaces.
Ms Kilkenny argued that the “green wedge” sites - which are located near public transport, freeway access, shops and schools - were “vital community assets”.
She said the land was being protected for future use, which could include tourism and recreation.
Originally published as ‘No-brainer’: Allan govt forced to expand Urban Growth Boundary or give up 1600 affordable homes
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