The ABS has today released its figures for building approvals for the months of July and August, 2017. They have also updated their data for the 2016/17 financial year. Glen Eira’s numbers for the past financial year were upgraded to 2021 building permits granted.
Please consider the table below. Glen Eira is now not only the biggest development municipality in the south east, but is winning hands down for the Northern suburbs alone. If the current rate continues, then Glen Eira will well and truly surpass another 2000 net new dwellings per year!
We have uploaded the full Excel spread sheet HERE
Readers may also find the suburb analysis of interest as well (uploaded HERE). Please note that Bentleigh-McKinnon is now far ahead of Carnegie. Quite incredible considering that McKinnon is merely a poor old neighbourhood centre in council’s heirarchy and Bentleigh is supposed to have only ‘minimal’ growth according to the structure planning documentation. The bottom line remains, we believe, that land zoned GRZ provides easier and cheaper pickings for developers – and McKinnon, Ormond have plenty of land zoned GRZ. Our prediction, unless zoning changes dramatically, is that these figures only represent the tip of the ice-berg and more and more development will be focused in our neighbourhood centres – especially since council has not provided any timelines for addressing this crucial issue or providing any information as to its intentions for these suburbs!
Glen Eira Debates 
October 10, 2017 at 3:32 PM
Terrific. 2000 last year, 2000 this year and council wants more and more. That’s why the activity centres have doubled in size and we get 12 and 8 stories. Come on councillors. Do your job and stop this rubbish planning. Reduce grz everywhere and get some decent traffic planning and open space work done.
October 10, 2017 at 4:51 PM
All this and our rates are soaring, could someone show me the logic behind massively increasing residents numbers is sustainable and economically beneficial, all the evidence appears to be pointing in the opposite direction.
Are we on the road to nowhere.
October 10, 2017 at 4:59 PM
A new application in for 16 three storeys in Station Avenue Mackinnon. This street is starting to challenge Bent for overdevelopment and it isn’t zoned rgz but grz. Locals still living in their single storey will sell up quick smart so more overdevelopment on the cards.
October 10, 2017 at 7:34 PM
Double what is needed. No excuse to expand and raise heights.
October 10, 2017 at 9:32 PM
Do these figures include Caulfield “Village” and the proposed estate on East Boundary Road?
October 10, 2017 at 9:54 PM
No, they don’t. There is probably another 1100 dwellings (at least) to go into the 3rd precinct at Caulfield Village and anything from 3000 to 4500 or even more at Virginia Estate.
October 11, 2017 at 8:45 AM
The “suburb” analysis is interesting, since its categories aren’t actually suburbs—combines some suburbs into a single category because some of them are too small, splits East Bentleigh into 2 or more pieces. Activity Centres are an invention of the state government and are unrelated to local policy, except where the state government has overridden municipalities by dictating local policy.
The accursed Melbourne 2030 that Mary Delahunty imposed on us in 2002 simply published a list of suburbs in an appendix, calling them activity centres. That was the extent of the strategic work done. Council continued that tradition when creating its Open Space Strategy, for example smaller suburbs getting combined to create larger geographic areas for assessment. If you make an area big enough you can be emboldened to claim that it is “well-served” by open space, when such space is actually 1.4 to 2.5 km away.
Development is cumulative so I doubt Bentleigh+McKinnon has truly overtaken Carnegie. Carnegie has been under sustained attack for 15 years. Council has tried the Tony Abbott approach of adopting simplistic slogans “the right buildings in the right places” but perverted the process. Any councillor that believes poor amenity is not a ground for refusing a permit shouldn’t be a councillor. At a minimum they should read and understand THEIR planning scheme first.
October 11, 2017 at 6:13 PM
stop Building stop immigration! stop asylum seekers! stop import cars stop the internet..oops