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Your weekly community newspaper covering news from Carrum to Mentone
Wednesday 16 August 2023
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Housing height limits sent to planning minister
Cupcake bake Cove Hotel chefs (Michelle Goodman pictured) have teamed up with Edithvale Primary School students to bake cupcakes for people doing it tough. See story page 4. Picture: Supplied
Brodie Cowburn brodie@baysidenews.com.au NEW guidelines for the future of housing in the Kingston municipality have finally been sent to the planning minister for approval. Kingston Council’s draft housing strategy and neighbourhood character study was first endorsed for consultation in April 2019, and has been in the works longer than that. A 2021 draft of the strategy saw 77.24 per cent of land in the Kingston municipality zoned “neighbourhood residential”, limiting development to two storeys. More than four years on from the approval of the first draft strategy, Kingston Council has finalised its proposed planning scheme amendment to make the changes permanent and has submitted it to planning minister Sonya Kilkenny to be ticked off. The proposed changes to council’s planning restrictions were assessed by an independent panel, which published its report earlier this year. The panel broadly supported council’s draft plans. Although Kingston Council has agreed with most of the panel recommendations, it has chosen to ignore advice to rezone some land in Mentone and Parkdale. The panel recommended making changes to land currently zoned “DDO1”, which limits development to two storeys. A report prepared by Kingston
Council officers read that walkable catchments of the Mentone and Parkdale activity centres should not be zoned for three-storey development, as the panel suggests. “Council officers are unclear where the panel has found the strategic basis for this change in character designation in the background work. In addition, no strategic work has been undertaken to review the application of the DDO1,” the report read. “[The] recommendation which seeks to apply a zone with a three-storey height that is inconsistent with the current and proposed DDO1 is not accepted.” The panel’s advice to rezone small areas of Clayton South and Parkdale as “general residential”, raising their height limits to three storeys, was accepted by Kingston Council. In addition to its two and three storey height limits, council’s draft housing strategy also designates multiple areas between Mentone and Moorabbin as “substantial change” areas, meaning developments of up to four storeys are likely to be permitted. Council has also chosen not to incorporate the panel recommendation to retain the current zones of The Bridge Hotel and private schools in the coastal character area into its planning scheme amendment. Planning minister Sonya Kilkenny is also the MP for Carrum, which encompasses the Kingston local government area. Continued page 3
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