Author: Brodie Cowburn

KINGSTON Council’s housing strategy and neighbourhood character study has gone through another round of changes, and will be presented to the planning minister soon. At their 25 October meeting, councillors agreed to the proposed changes to the planning strategy. The proposed final overlay will see 77.24 per cent of land available for residential development in Kingston classified as in the “neighbourhood residential zone”, limiting development to two storeys. Just 51.3 per cent of land was in the NRZ when the plan was drafted in 2019. The plan council agreed to in August 2020 had 92.91 per cent of land classified…

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WINDS of 98.2 kilometers per hour were recorded in Frankston during a wild storm last week. Frankston State Emergency Service was the state’s busiest SES on the morning of the storm. Up to 11.30am on 29 October, it received 168 calls for assistance. The next busiest SES unit was Ballarat with 140. A total of 2,518 requests for help were made to the SES over the course of the night and morning. Most of the calls made to the SES were about downed trees. 1,936 calls were made to alert the service about fallen trees, and 422 were about building…

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A SITE which could help solve car parking issues at Kananook Station has been compulsorily acquired by Frankston Council. A former car yard on 39 Wells Road near the Frankston Basketball Stadium in Seaford has been purchased by council. The Times understands that one use being considered for the site is car parking for the nearby train station. The mayor Kris Bolam said that council has acquired the site and that it is “exploring land usage options to support the precinct”. “Council believes the site has great potential for the local community as it is located adjacent to Frankston Basketball…

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EXPANDED planning powers for the state government authority overseeing the Suburban Rail Loop are necessary to “have some consistency” across train station precincts, an SRL project manager says. SRL precincts are the 1600 metre areas surrounding train stations along the rail loop. There will be one around Cheltenham Station on the Frankston line. Legislation passed earlier this month will give the Suburban Rail Loop Authority more power to make planning decisions within those precincts. Kingston councillors have written to the planning minister to express concern that planning power is being taken out of their hands. At a recent council meeting,…

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A NEW end date has been set for the current closure of the Frankston line. Buses are currently replacing trains between Mordialloc and Frankston as level crossing removal works take place at Edithvale, Chelsea, and Bonbeach. After a two week construction industry shutdown, level crossing removal works have resumed. The schedule for the project has been revised, with trains now expected to start running again on 22 November. That date will also mark the opening of the three reconstructed stations. A statement from the LXRP read “since construction resumed on Level Crossing Removal Project sites on Tuesday 5 October following…

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