The agenda for Tuesday night’s council meeting is, as we anticipated, another example of the ineptitude of this council; its hard working spin department determined to convince residents of the superiority of Glen Eira compared to every other council in the state, and finally the continuing approval of developments that fly in the face of sound planning principles and community views. In short, (and we will elaborate fully in the next few days) what this overloaded agenda proposes is:

  • Granting permits for 261 new dwellings plus another 11 for an amended permit that seeks to increase the number of dwellings by 11
  • Waiving of both resident and visitor car parking
  • Another admission of lousy planning with council seeking permission to advertise Amendment C121. This now seeks to REZONE PROPERTIES TO NEIGHBOURHOOD RESIDENTIAL ZONE and to introduce HEIGHT LIMITS for mixed use zones. Why council did not bother to achieve such outcomes BEFORE the zones were introduced is the critical question. Our view is that residents should expect more and more stuff ups to become clearer in the weeks and months ahead when council attempts to ‘remedy’ some of its most glaring errors. Again this shows what kind of overall vision and strategic planning went on when the zones were introduced.
  • Of far greater interest is the question of what council will now do in the face of the current petition going around that asks council to review its zones (with community consultation) and to finally get things right. The probable ‘answer’ that this can’t be done is disproved by the above. Given this proposed Amendment any refusal to undergo genuine ‘review’ can only be seen as a total rejection of community.
  • Finally, Tuesday night’s meeting will show residents to what extent councillors represent the community and to what extent they are mere puppets of an administration hell bent on more and more inappropriate overdevelopment.