Developer’s letter to Glen Eira homeowners leaves families and mayor steaming
- Andrea Kellett
- February 02, 2015 12:00AM
A DEVELOPER enticing Glen Eira residents to sell their homes for above-market prices in return for long settlements has raised the ire of anti-development residents, plus the city’s mayor.
The Elsternwick-based Bayland Property Group has angered those opposed to “inappropriate” development in their residential streets, after delivering letters offering to pay “significantly over market value”.
“You may have noticed a number of townhouse and apartment developments in your local area,” the letter states.
“This is due to zoning changes you would have read about in the newspaper and online.
“Bayland, as developers of both townhouses and apartments, would love the opportunity to talk to you about purchasing your property.’’
Glen Eira mayor Jim Magee is seeing red over the reference to Glen Eira’s residential zones.
“The building boom in Glen Eira has nothing to do with the zones. There’s nothing you can do today that you couldn’t do 10 years ago,’’ he said.
Members of a residents’ group set up to fight inappropriate residential development in Glen Eira have posted photos of the letter on their Facebook page and the Leader has been shown a letter of complaint written to Bayland.
“If anyone at your office had done their homework on our area you would realise residents are strongly opposed to developers. These letters only increase our anger,’’ the resident wrote.
“Those who wish to sell will do so which is totally their private business, we are all tired of being harassed.’’
The Bayland Property Group did not respond to repeated requests for interview over three weeks.
Glen Eira Debates 
February 2, 2015 at 5:12 PM
Magee and the rest of them are not getting the message. Ten years ago none of this was occuring and even two years ago it was not happening. The zones are telling developers come and make some mega bucks. Glen Eira is yours for the taking and we councillors will help you all the way cos we have no eyes or brains and like good little puppets do as we are told by the officers.
February 2, 2015 at 6:51 PM
It’s a typical disingenuous comment from a Glen Eira councillor. A member of staff without a Council resolution to authorize him asked/begged/pleaded the Planning Minister to use his discretion under s.20 to make unilateral changes to the Scheme. The Minister obliged. As a result, all the multi-unit development activity is now constrained to take place in the Housing Diversity [sic] areas targetted for higher density development, and that’s a lot of Edwardian houses, California bungalows, and trees that Council has condemned.
At the same time, Council relaxed the amenity standards for GRZ and RGZ. They went from a discretionary 9m height limit to a mandatory 10.5m or 13.5m height limit, and all other standards remained discretionary. The conventional arguments developers use for not having to comply with the standards are that they can’t make as much money as they want otherwise, that they need more latitude to recoup the cost of the land that they’re paying a premium for since they’re excluded from NRZ, and that either existing residents can’t expect to have their amenity protected or that their wonderful development is so finely resolved that it has negligible impact on amenity and makes a “positive contribution” to the built form. The outcomes and rate of change under the new residential zones are exactly what Council wanted and yet they’re rather coy about their contribution.
February 2, 2015 at 8:48 PM
Real estate agents are one rung up from car salesmen – jackals cashing in. They are entitled to. Residents getting out whilst the going is still good are also entitled to get more for their buck. Magee is not entitled to pretend that everything is the same and that his and the other jokers hands are clean. They’ve got blood all over them.
February 2, 2015 at 8:53 PM
Magee couldn’t a rats about anything except his own ego, he is about the most disingenuous person/councillor one could ever have the displeasure of meeting.