PS – WE FORGOT TO MENTION THAT COUNCIL NOW ADMITS TO A ‘PRELIMINARY’ FIGURE OF 3000 DWELLINGS FOR VIRGINIA ESTATE! WE FORECAST AT LEAST 3500 BY THE TIME ANY OFFICIAL PLANS COME IN!

This is a long and complicated post so we beg your forbearance.

Council’s planning is largely based on the projected population figures plus available ‘developable’ land as stated in the Housing id reports. We then get a few draft scenarios that seek to apply the new housing styles (ie garden townhouse, garden apartment, commercial, etc) to the various zones such as Neighbourhood Residential (minimal change), General Residential (3 storeys) and Residential Growth Zone (4 storeys).

As we’ve stated previously, some mention is made of Wynne’s introduction of Amendment VC110, but this is almost exclusively related to the requirement for the ‘garden areas’ in the General Residential Zone. No specific mention is made of the impact of removing the 2 dwelling mandatory condition for the Neighbourhood Residential zone. From what we can tell, this does not even feature in the multitude of so called ‘calculations’ council uses to justify its draft position.

Worse still is the Housing Report’s and council’s claim that areas zoned NRZ will in all likelihood achieve a dwelling capacity of 18 dwellings per hectare. The areas zoned GRZ are forecast to achieve a dwelling density of  anything between 75 if it is designated as a ‘garden townhouse’ to 150 dwellings per hectare if it happens to be labelled ‘townhouse and apartment mix’.

Both of these calculations are so off the mark, given recent trends, that it is not funny. Thus, if we can’t trust the data, how can we trust the recommendations and the overall planning decisions that are being made?

NEIGHBOURHOOD RESIDENTIAL ZONE (POST VC110)

Below is a list of the first 9 applications to have come in following the gazetting of Amendment VC110 in March 2017. Assuming that all will receive a permit, the results indicate that instead of a dwelling density of 18 per hectare, these 9 applications alone will bring in a dwelling density of 38 dwellings per 0.8 hectares!!!!!! We must then ask – what does this do to council’s planning? If the NRZ is now set to become a pseudo GRZ, do we need to firstly expand the activity centres and secondly have vast swathes zoned GRZ in all our neighbourhood centres?

Here are the figures for these 9 applications. Please bear in mind that we followed the ‘methodology’ used by council and the Housing report! Also worthy of noting is that Council’s document where the above table came from (UPLOADED HERE) does not include NRZ examples in its appendices!

76 Bignell Road, Bentleigh East – 3 units, 600 sqm

27 Draper St., McKinnon – 3 units, 1010 sqm

4-6 Hudson St., Caulfield North, 1300, 8 units

36 Mawby Road, Bentleigh East – 4 units, 700sqm

2 Newman Ave., Carnegie – 6 units, 1033sqm

22 North Ave., Bentleigh – 3 units, 777sqm

1 Ridell Parade, Elsternwick – 3 units, 700sqm

2 Shanahan Cresc., McKinnon – 3 units, 778sqm

3 rigby Ave., Carnegie – 5 units, 1134sqm

38 UNITS ON = 8032SQM = 0.8 HECTARES!!!!

 

GENERAL RESIDENTIAL ZONE (3 STOREYS)

Council does include some ‘sample’ permits granted in this zone. Why these specific ‘examples’ were selected, we have no idea, and nor was any explanation provided!

We have tried to be far more ‘objective’ and the list below is the outcome from consecutive VCAT decisions in descending order. Only 2 are identical to the ‘examples’ provided by council. The site coverage cited come directly from the VCAT decision itself.

In complete contrast to council’s prognostications, we find that the GRZ establishes an average of just under 195 dwelling per hectare – well and truly above both figures that council provides. We are yet to see what real impact Wynne’s mandated ‘garden area’ will have on the GRZ. We are not hopeful given that anything above 1 metre in width can be deemed as part of the garden area and if land is subdivided first and is less than 400 square metres, then there is no need for garden area at all! So we again have to ask what does this mean for our overall planning if these figures are so off the mark?

33-35 Belsize Ave, Carnegie – 29 units – 1357sqm

291 Grange Road and 4 Walsh Street, Ormond – 23 units -1254

27 Elizabeth Street, Bentleigh East – 10 units – 878

137-139 Murrumbeena Road, Murrumbeena – 27 units – 1629

6-10 Claire Street McKinnon – 33 units – 2053 (council notes 1744sqm)

19-21 Rothschild Street, Glen Huntly – 23 units – 1366

466 Dandenong Road, Caulfield North – 14 units – 800

132 Hotham Street, St Kilda East – 16 units – 964

12-14 Quinns Road, Bentleigh East –  22 units -1276

10-12 Station Avenue, McKinnon – 21 units – 1449

1 St Georges Avenue, Bentleigh East – 12 units – 822

817-819 Centre Road, Bentleigh East – 24 units – 1231

2-4 Penang St., McKinnon – 22 units (1388sqn)

143 – 147 Neerim Road, Glen Huntly – 32 units – 1672

130 Murrumbeena Road, MURRUMBEENA – 16 units (883sqm)

91 McKinnon Road, McKinnon – 10 units (566sqm)

64-66 Bent Street, McKinnon. – 31 units (1371.29 sq m – not the 1500+ recorded by council)

2 Ormond Road, Ormond – 15 units (846sqm)

90-92 Hawthorn Road, Caulfield North – 24 units (1240sqm)

135 – 137 Neerim Road, Glen Huntly – 39 units – 1654

4-6 James Street and 14-16 Etna St., Glen Huntly – 45 units (2462sqm)

UNITS – 488

Area = 25,161sqm = 2.51 hectares. = 194.42 DWELLING PER HECTARE.