A CONTROVERSIAL plan to build more than 900 homes on the Dingley Village Kingswood golf course site has been approved.
Last week, the state government gave the green light for developer Satterley to proceed with the redevelopment. A development plan for the site was approved in late 2025, paving the way for last week’s approval of a planning permit for 932 new homes.
The project has been in the works for nearly a decade. Kingston Council rejected a proposal by former site owner AustralianSuper to redevelop the land in 2018 after more than 8000 residents objected. The state government later stepped in to claim planning authority over the site.
Developer Satterley bought the site in 2024. Its revised plans for more than 900 lots on the site were also met with community opposition; a petition with more than 2000 signatures was submitted to state parliament earlier this year (“Calls grow to change golf course plans”, The Times, 10/9/2026). Despite that opposition, the state government gave its final approval for redevelopment on 22 September.
Flooding concerns have been the largest concern for people opposing the project – the state government said in a statement that the development will “require updated flood and drainage modelling”.
Planning minister Sonya Kilkenny said the approved plan “reflects community feedback as we get on building more homes for Victorians.”
“We are delivering more homes here – while protecting what makes the area great including trees and open space,” Kilkenny said. The state government’s announcement read that “the project will deliver at least 10 per cent affordable housing. 20 per cent of the site will be dedicated to green open space.”
“The development will be built in stages. Stages will only proceed to construction once infrastructure is delivered,” the state government said. “The plan has been shaped following extensive consultation with locals, Kingston Council and Melbourne Water.”
After the decision was approved, Kingston Council publicly voiced its disappointment. It has been advocating for changes to the plans throughout this council term.
Kingston mayor Cr Georgina Oxley said that Kingston Council is “angered by this state government decision.”
“For more than a decade, the community and council have raised serious concerns about huge tree losses, the scale of development, limited open space, traffic impacts and flood risks. Yet we have been consistently ignored. Now the 932-home development has been approved just months out from a state election,” Cr Oxley said. “This decision has been made despite overwhelming community opposition, clear environmental risks and warnings from the government’s own advisory processes that the site is highly constrained by flood risk and contains critical environmental values.
“Kingston and Dingley Village have spent years fighting for meaningful changes and quite frankly deserve better. For decades this site was the lungs of Dingley Village, but this decision shows scant regard for the environment.”
Cr Oxley said that minor improvements to the submitted plans were secured, but that the development remains inappropriate for its site.
“We have previously called for appropriate investment in drainage, roads, active transport, open space and community infrastructure to respond to the significant population increase associated with the development,” Cr Oxley said. “Kingston is happy to take its share of growth to address the housing crisis and consistently supported new housing in the right locations. But this proposal has always been the wrong development, in the wrong location, at the wrong scale.”
After the state government approved the Kingswood development plan in late 2025, Kingston Council failed to lodge an appeal with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal until four days after the required deadline. Earlier this year Kingston Council resolved to write to the planning minister to urge that the redevelopment be halted (“Council calls for Kingswood plan change”, The Times, 5/5/2026).
First published in the Frankston Times – 29 September 2026