AFTER more than two years of development, new height limits in Frankston’s city centre have been sent to the planning minister for final approval. Frankston Council has been working on its FMAC Structure Plan since 2022. The plan and its associated planning scheme amendment C160fran will set maximum preferred height limits of up to 16 storeys in parts of Frankston’s city centre.
After an independent planning panel approved most of the proposed changes late last month, Frankston Council has finalised the plan. Councillors approved it at a 16 September meeting, a day before entering caretaker mode, and the matter is now in the hands of planning minister Sonya Kilkenny.
Council officers recommended that councillors proceed with the planning changes with the panel’s proposed amendments to rezone VicTrack land at 53 Davey Street and make some minor wording changes. Officers wrote “the panel found that planning scheme amendment C160fran was strategically justified, consistent with the relevant planning practice notes, supported by and implements the planning policy framework, providing a robust strategic basis for the amendment.
“If council resolves to abandon the amendment, the city centre will remain without contemporary planning controls and create uncertainty for the community, investors and developers. Given the status of the Victorian Government’s Activity Centre Program, which Frankston is part of, there is the risk that a high level, standardised and deemed to comply approach could be implemented to guide use and development in the city centre, which would significantly impact council’s vision for the Frankston MAC.”
Most objectors have opposed the proposed 12-storey height limits in the precinct bordered by Nepean Highway, Beach Street, Wells Street, and Kananook Creek Boulevard. The final planning scheme amendment will push ahead with the 12-storey limits. The preferred height limits set out in the FMAC Structure Plan can be exceeded at the discretion of the responsible authority.
Frankston councillor Kris Bolam voted for the approval of the new planning guidelines. He said the adoption of the FMAC Structure Plan will mean “developers that want to invest in Frankston will now have clarity and mandatory guidelines from height limits to built-form.” “Having an adopted structure plan actually arms the community with a statutory safeguard against inappropriate development. As far as I am concerned, it’s a win-win for responsible development in Frankston and also encourages much-needed private investment,” he said.
Earlier this year the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal considered two high-rise proposals along the Nepean Highway in Frankston. It rejected plans for a 14-storey apartment building at 438-444 Nepean Highway and approved a multi-storey building at 446-450 Nepean Highway (“VCAT rejects high-rise plan” The Times 24/6/2024). At their 16 September meeting, councillors considered a proposal to revise approved nine-storey plans at 35 Playne Street to fifteen storeys.
First published in the Frankston Times – 24 September 2024