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Tuesday 28 April 2026
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Accessibility program on the beach extended ACCESSIBILITY measures running at Frankston Beach are set to continue into 2027. The beach accessibility pilot program began last December, when 70 metres of beach matting extending to the water’s edge was installed. See story page 4. Picture: Supplied
Rate hike on vacant properties abandoned Brodie Cowburn brodie@baysidenews.com.au A FRANKSTON Council proposal to implement a 300 percent differential rate on untenanted commercial properties in Frankston’s CBD has been abandoned. The proposal to set the rate at 300 percent of the general rate was raised late last year and sent out for community consultation. In response to 230 submissions, Frankston councillors rejected the proposal at their public
meeting last week (“Rate hike for vacant retail spaces proposed” The Times, 16/5/2026). Former mayor Kris Bolam spearheaded the proposal after council successfully implemented a 300 percent differential rate on empty lots in the Frankston CBD in its 2025/2026 budget. He ended up being the only councillor to vote in favour of the new differential rate, saying “I am not surprised by the internal resistance to this, but I am shocked by the reliance on such a flawed consultation, in my opinion. The report relies on a sample
of 230 people, just .15 percent of our population.” “Our current vacancy rate in Frankston City sits at a staggering 23 percent. This is not normal. Melbourne CBD is at five, Geelong at ten, and Mornington at five percent. So why are we settling for 23 percent? Why accept a reality where nearly one in four of our shop fronts is a dead space,” he said. “We’ve watched our peer cities thrive while we wait for a market correction to occur, and it won’t occur. “Revenue from that differential
funded rate [on vacant land] has actually seen reductions in both commercial and residential rates. And anecdotally, we saw a flurry of for sale signs on long-dormant lots along Nepean Highway. It worked. The proposal for a vacant shopfront differential followed this exact same philosophy, except this time for structures, not just bare earth.” The remaining Frankston councillors in attendance at last week’s meeting voted to abandon the proposed differential rate, acting in line with a recommendation from Frankston
Council officers. Cr Steffie Conroy said the plan “has caused a lot of distress on landlords who are really struggling to fill the vacancies of their shops.” “If it was the opposite recommendation to actually proceed with the differential rate, in my humble opinion, it looks like we’re just adding another tax onto our community. I am not a fan of that,” Cr Conroy said. “We’ve already got two levels of government that does that enough, and so I’m not supportive at all for differential rates.” Continued page 3
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