Author: Neil Walker
MAJOR changes to Kingston City Council’s green wedge policy were made at last week’s council meeting, with councillors deciding vast tracts of green wedge land should be opened up to development to give the area “a unique semi-rural feel”. Councillors voted five-four to proceed with a planning scheme amendment that would lower the minimum lot size on land between Heatherton Rd and Lower Dandenong Rd from 4 hectares to 2000 square metres. This could pave the way for residential development in the area. The amendment will be sent to state planning minister Matthew Guy for approval after consultation with council…
MENTONE Grammar has responded to questions about a bid to rezone its Keysborough playing fields that could open the land up to residential development and earn the school tens of millions of dollars. The News revealed the elite private school made a submission to Kingston City Council planning consultants Planisphere before the firm made its final recommendations to council about the future use of Kingston’s green wedge (‘Land plan puzzle’, The News, 12/2/14). Council kept Mentone Grammar’s correspondence with Planisphere confidential. Both council and the school have refused to directly answer several questions about the school’s submission. Council initially advised…
AN impasse over the visibility of Mentone’s iconic Nylex electronic clock shows no sign of being resolved any time soon. The Nylex sign at the former moulded plastics factory has been partially hidden from sight by a large Bunnings advertising board making it difficult to see when travelling outbound from Melbourne on the Nepean Hwy. Mentone Parkdale Village Committee has spent months trying to convince council to act to make the Nylex sign visible again. Committee member Dorothy Booth said it was “beyond belief” that Bunnings had erected a large sign directly in front of the Nylex clock, despite it…
THE legacy of late Mordialloc legend Jack Pompei could be in jeopardy at Pompei’s Landing amid a Kingston council push to seek expressions of interest in three leases on crown land along Mordialloc Creek at Pompei Bridge. Jack’s son, Leon Pompei, currently runs part of the Pompei family business at the creek and also sells marine paints from a small shed on the land. Jack Pompei’s estate is charged a peppercorn rent of $104 per year for each lease. Jack Pompei, who died in 2008, was known as “Mr Mordialloc” and the custodian of Mordialloc Creek. A fisherman and boat…