The agenda for Tuesday night’s council meeting includes our first look at the draft Bentleigh Structure Plan. The recommendation is to put this document out for public consultation for a period of 6 weeks. We know little about the nature of this consultation, except that it will include: a range of in-person and online opportunities for the community to provide comments, feedback and ask questions. In other words, we anticipate another mock consultation that only achieves the ‘consult’ range rather than the ‘involve’ stage recommended in the IAPP2 ladder for public participation.
Far more depressing are the actual recommendations contained in this draft. A short summary follows:
- Discretionary heights of up to 8 storeys along Centre Road for non heritage buildings – which means developments could be even higher.
- Only heritage buildings to have a mandatory 5 storey height limit (17.8 Metres) along Centre road
- A discretionary 7 storey height directly abutting a two storey heritage overlay along Campbell and other streets
- The real possibility of a reduction in onsite care parking requirements
- No mandatory rear site setbacks for developments abutting residential/heritage
- Discretionary front setbacks for non heritage properties
- Potential sell-off of council owned land for mixed use development that might include social housing. Please remember that council’s policy as it stands only asks for a 5% component for large developments. Other councils have asked for as much as 20%!
- Winter solstice considerations only to be taken into account at a measurement of 3.9 metres from the site boundary in side/local streets. How many of these streets have footpaths that are a bare 2.5 metres in width?
Here’s a run down of the proposed heights. CLICK TO ENLARGE THE IMAGE
Readers should note the following:
- Only those hatched sites (ie with///////markings are heritage listed). Thus all other sites earmarked as 5 storeys could potentially be much higher.
- The number of residential properties that are currently in NRZ that will have a discretionary 7 or 8 storey building backing onto them – ie Wheatley Road, Campbell street, Smith Street, etc. Clearly a difference of 5 or 6 storeys does not matter to our council planners!
Finally, what’s not shown in the above map are the proposed future rezonings of the residential hinterland.
We urge all readers to carefully consider the published documents and to partake in the upcoming consultation.
Glen Eira Debates 
July 1, 2023 at 9:35 AM
Bad enough already and this means it will only get worse. They reckon that another 2000 people will come into Bentleigh by 2036. Even calculating at only 2 people per dwelling that means in my reckoning that all we need is 1000 new dwellings over 15 years to accommodate everyone. If this is right then why the hell go for 8 and more story buildings? How many will stand empty because they won’t be cheaper or affordable? Crazy, crazy stuff.
July 1, 2023 at 9:56 AM
I’m trying to go through the hundreds of pages in the agenda but all I’m finding is verbage that basically says nothing concrete. There’s one bit that illustrates how spin can camouflage reality. There’s plenty commentary on how environmentally conscious this council is and specific mention of the water sensitive urban design. What is not stated is that all council has is an integrated water strategy where developers are only “encouraged” to do what’s right. Much is about the need for culturally sensitive actions and community awareness. The focus is basically on the Elster Creek catchment area. This is a local policy only and not in the planning scheme. There is no water sensitive urban design policy in the planning scheme – even though this was part of the 2016 recommendations in the planning scheme review of this year. Unless something is in the planning scheme it is useless. None of this is mentioned in the hundreds of pages I’m trying to get my head around.
July 2, 2023 at 12:22 PM
Stuff heritage if it stands in the way of development in Glen Eira.
July 3, 2023 at 5:23 PM
The report has been prepared by various factions of the development industry based on secret negotiations with minimal oversight from councillors.
My experience with Carnegie Structure plan does not bode well. I asked why they were encouraging development that would fail to comply with residential amenity standards and the responses varied from “meh” to “alternative design solutions” to outright refusal. Council staff couldn’t even identify which members of the development industry were responsible for each element in the plan that Council rubberstamped.
All of this is at the same time as State Government has repeatedly been embroiled in scandals, including Operation Sandon, where it was revealed that developers donated to the major political parties to influence planning decisions, exactly as we’re seeing here.
We know the next steps in the Charade. Council will adopt the plan, the Planning Minister has to decide if the plan offers enough development potential to developers in order for them to continue to make large donations, it will get exhibited, referred to a planning panel consisting of fellow members of the development industry, and ultimately the planning scheme will be modified along the lines the industry demanded.
Then there will be a series of planning decisions reviewed by VCAT at considerable expense, and the Scheme will be used to justify poor amenity outcomes while ignoring any element of the scheme that might inhibit profits. Infrastructure will remain inadequate, houses will continue to get flooded in areas with poor drainage, strategic plans concerning integrated transport and open space will still not be implemented, the majority of the objectives of planning in Victoria will be ignored.
July 4, 2023 at 9:51 AM
An accurate summary of planning decisions by council and the machinations of the state government. I’m very tired of hearing from certain councillors and staff that council has to adhere to what the government wants. Fair enough in some ways. But this draft has not even gone to the department or minister, albeit discussions have probably been held with the department. It’s here that this council has to show some backbone and act in accordance with resident views and logical planning principles. No decent planning principles exist when officers believe that having discretionary seven storey buildings backing on to single and double storey heritage zones is acceptable planning. Plus no consideration given to overshadowing of these places and footpaths on the south side.
Accepting this draft is the first step in acquiescence by council. Nothing should be put out for consultation until it is the best version. All this achieves is minute tinkering later on and the knowledge that not too many residents have the time or knowledge to front up to a rigged planning panel. Ultimately this all goes back to a council that has done zero planning for the last few decades. The goal has always been to assist the development industry in any way it can. If we had structure plans a decade ago, or decent levies, and decent zoning, then the issues of today would not be so significant.