THE shape and height of things to come in the centre of Frankston was hotly debated at last month’s council meeting.
Councillors voted to adopt the Frankston Metropolitan Activity Centre Structure Plan but some had misgivings about the scale of development, particularly with regards to high-rise buildings, which could follow in its wake.
The plan is a guide to future development and the use of public space in central Frankston including the Waterfront, Kananook Creek, Beauty Park, Monash University, Chisholm TAFE, Frankston Hospital, Bayside Shopping Centre, inner city Frankston homes, Ebdale Hub and the Carrum Downs industrial estate.
Council has asked Planning Minister Richard Wynne to authorise the exhibition of the Structure Plan, more than eight years after first debating its merits.
At last month’s council meeting the mayor Cr Sandra Mayer said it was important to get on with finalising a plan since the imminent $110 million redevelopment of Frankston train station, Chisholm TAFE and the surrounding area will be part of the changing landscape of central Frankston.
“We need a vision for the city … we need to get on with it,” she said.
Cr Glenn Aitken said residents valued Frankston as “a green place and appreciate the low scale of development” and believed a good balance of social and economic considerations should be paramount.
He slammed the plan as “a goldmine” for developers due to a lack of mandatory building height limits.
“In the future we [council] will be condemned,” he said.
Cr Aitken welcomed South East Water and its employees to the region but feared a repeat of the water authority’s towering building on Frankston’s coastline.
“What that building has done to our coastal landscape in Frankston has been extremely regrettable.”
Cr Suzette Tayler said she wished she had fought harder against the SEW building design.
“It is the most disgusting building I’ve ever seen. I didn’t expect it to look like that. I’m quite horrified and shocked and every time I look at it I hate it.
“I don’t want to see ‘another South East Water building’ along Nepean Highway.”
Crs Darrel Taylor and Colin Hampton backed the mayor’s push to put the Structure Plan to the Planning Minister.
Cr Hampton said “there’s a long way to go” before it is finalised and the community will have several chances during the process to provide feedback.
He said the plan is “good” overall despite having “things in this document I don’t agree with”.
“Do we want to sit on our hands and do nothing?” he asked.
Cr Taylor said Frankston should receive more funding from state governments if there is a formal plan for the city centre.
“We’ve got to have a plan and strategic development … otherwise it will be a hotchpotch approach.”
The plan was called “a farce” by Cr James Dooley since it referred to “preferred height limits” and not mandatory height restrictions for buildings.
The mayor said planning ministers “do not like prescriptive planning conditions”.
“This says we’re open for business … you will never please everybody,” Cr Mayer said.
Crs Hampton, Mayer, Michael O’Reilly, Rebekah Spelman and Darrel Taylor voted to adopt the Frankston Metropolitan Activity Centre Structure Plan.
Crs Aitken and Suzette Tayler opposed the plan while Cr Dooley abstained from voting.
Visit frankston.vic.gov.au to read the Structure Plan and see details about future community consultation.
