KINGSTON’S mayor says that the proposed height limits for future residential developments will help address the current housing crisis.
Demand for housing is a pressing issue nationwide. The national residential vacancy rate has hovered at a little more than one per cent throughout this year, as low as it has been since 2006, according to figures from SQM research. In the south-east Melbourne region the vacancy rate is lower than one per cent.
Kingston Council has drafted new planning guidelines for future housing development, and submitted them to planning minister Sonya Kilkenny for approval. Council’s plan will guide where future three and four-storey developments will be built (“Housing height limits sent to planning minister” The News 16/8/23).
Kingston mayor Hadi Saab said the proposed planning scheme amendment addresses the housing issues. “Housing supply is a critical issue for all levels of government right now, and Kingston has stepped up to work with our community over the past six years to deliver a plan that focuses future growth in and around our key activity centres, close to public transport, shops, and services. We have shown this can be done while also protecting our quieter neighbourhood streets” he said.
“Our housing plan easily accommodates required growth, we have a proven track record of approving new homes in activity centres, and we know further growth is coming via the Suburban Rail Loop project areas in Cheltenham/Highett and Clayton/Clayton South. Council is also proud to be a strong supporter of social and affordable housing projects to provide homes for people that would otherwise miss out. Kingston is living proof that councils and local communities can create positive plans for growth in their neighbourhoods.”
An independent panel recommended that council should zone walkable catchments of the Mentone and Parkdale activity centres for three-storey development. The proposed planning scheme amendment submitted to the planning minister ignored this advice. Haab said “this has come completely out of the blue, and we stand firm with our community that our beautiful foreshore should be protected from inappropriate development. We simply do not support changing the current 2-storey limit introduced by the Victorian Government to safeguard the unique coastal environment right along Port Phillip Bay.”
To see Kingston Council’s proposed C203 planning amendment visit yourkingstonyoursay.com.au/c203
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 23 August 2023