COUNCILLORS backing a move to rezone parts of Kingston’s Green Wedge insist they are trying to find “an acceptable compromise” to ensure vast tracts of the environmentally sensitive area are protected while freeing up some parts for rural living. Cr Tamsin Bearsley said she accepted a push to convert parts of the Green Wedge to a Rural Living Zone would face opposition but stressed there would be further expert advice sought and community feedback before any final decision is made. Cr Bearsley said the land – between Kingston and Heatherton roads and Lower Dandenong Road and on the eastern side…
Author: Neil Walker
PLANNING minister Matthew Guy has knocked back a proposal to subdivide land at Stotts Lane, Frankston South which would have carved up the green wedge land for residential development. In August last year, Frankston councillors voted to ask the minister to consider Schutz Pty Ltd’s plan to subdivide 42 hectares at Stotts Lane. An attempt to rezone the land on the eastern side of Stotts Lane for about 180 new houses was made more than 13 years ago, and was followed by similar failed attempts in 2004 and 2011. The land is zoned Rural Conservation Zone and is covered by…
KINGSTON Council’s contentious bid to rezone land in the Green Wedge for potential residential development remains on the table after councillors voted to push ahead with seeking expert advice on the matter. The News revealed last month that planning minister Matthew Guy wrote to council advising he would consider any formally made rezoning request “based on its merits” (‘Guy open to wedge review’, The News, 18/6/14). Mr Guy’s letter prompted pro-development councillors to ask for consultants to be brought in to provide advice on drafting an official planning scheme amendment. Councillors Tamara Barth, David Eden, Steve Staikos and Rosemary West…
THE proposed new war memorial at Beauty Park is no closer to being built due to a funding shortfall for the $1.4 million project. Frankston Council has allocated $100,000 in its 2013-14 budget and $300,000 of rates revenue in 2014-15 towards the memorial. Council CEO Dennis Hovenden made it clear earlier this month that council should not be expected to contribute any more money to the memorial’s construction. “It is clear that council has already made a substantial financial commitment to the project,” Mr Hovenden said at this month’s council meeting. “Council will continue to identify other funding sources at…
FUTURE generations of Kingston ratepayers may not be so impressed, but for now, the Abbott government’s decision to axe the carbon tax has saved existing ratepayers money. Kingston Council formally adopted its 2014-15 budget at Monday evening’s council meeting, passing on a “bonus” to ratepayers in the form of a reduction in the proposed 4.25 per cent rate rise flagged in the draft budget. Ratepayers will now pay 4.06 per cent more in rates for 2014-15 after council decided to “pass on savings delivered by the federal government’s repeal of carbon pricing legislation”, according to a statement released the day…