Council considers another high-rise

FRANKSTON councillors have given approval to a high-rise apartment building in Frankston, but its fate will ultimately be decided by VCAT.

The application submitted was for a 14-storey building at 424-426 Nepean Highway, Frankston. A planning permit for the site was first issued in September 2018, but the proposal has since undergone numerous changes. Earlier his year, the developer applied for the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to consider its amended 14-storey plans (pictured right).

At a meeting last week, a majority of Frankston councillors agreed that council would have issued a planning permit for the proposal had it not been for the VCAT application. Council will inform VCAT of its position by the time of the scheduled amendment proceeding on 12 August.

Council officers recommended that councillors approve the project. They wrote that they “consider that the amended plans are generally consistent with the objectives of the planning policy framework and respond in an appropriate manner to the urban context of the subject land subject to conditions on any planning permit issued.”
Councillors Nathan Conroy, Suzette Tayler, Kris Bolam, David Asker, and Brad Hill voted to approve the proposal. Councillors Glenn Aitken and Claire Harvey voted against, and councillor Sue Baker abstained.

The planned 14-storey building will host dwellings and retail spaces.

Proposed high-rise buildings along Nepean Highway have sparked vocal community backlash during this council term. Protesters to Nepean Highway developments have collectively dubbed them the “Great Wall of Frankston”.
Two high-rise proposals along Nepean Highway in Frankston have been considered by VCAT this year. It approved the “Harbour” proposal for 446-450 Nepean Highway in April, then just this month rejected a plan for a 14-storey proposal at 438-444 Nepean Highway (“VCAT rejects high-rise plan” The Times 24/7/24).

First published in the Frankston Times 30 July, 2024