THE new planning guidelines for the Endeavour Cove precinct in Patterson Lakes have been implemented.
The Patterson Lakes precinct has been subject to complex planning guidelines. Decisions made within the precinct in the last 30 years have been highly controversial and were probed by the Victorian Ombudsman in 2021.
New planning guidelines for the marina precinct were gazetted by the state government’s planning department on 17 November. The planning scheme amendment took shape throughout 2022, and a planning panel assessed it earlier this year.
Kingston mayor Jenna Davey-Burns said the new guidelines reflected concerns from residents. “This work originally stemmed from community concerns about planning issues at The Cove and we have been walking alongside our local residents throughout,” she said. “After years of hard work, I am very satisfied where this matter has landed. We are now able to move forward with clarity, certainty, and consistency, which has been our goal from the start.”
The gazetted changes implement height limits of up to 20 metres in the precinct – a large chunk of the site is restricted by smaller height limits.
The Ombudsman’s 2021 investigation did not substantiate corruption allegations but wrote that “poor strategic decision-making” had been shown by Kingston Council in the last three decades. The final report read that in 1994, the proposed Endeavour Cove precinct had been advertised as a $100-million residential and commercial precinct with 119 townhouses, 124 apartments, and 10 penthouses to accommodate 250 residences. Kingston Council told the investigation that there are now 396 residences and about 1000 residents in the marina precinct (“Incompetence blamed for Cove decisions” The News 20/10/21).
A VCAT ruling last year stated that under the now-former guidelines, a developer did not require permission to build a 10-storey building (“Tribunal rules on 10-storey plans at Cove site” The News 12/10/22).
To read the complete changes visit yourkingstonyoursay.com.au/c205
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 29 November 2023