MELBOURNE has now caught up with SYDNEY … aka SH.TN.Y!
AND they are having the same issues as Sydney residents
-the difference seems to be they are experiencing change all of a sudden
WHEN CAAN was there 3 years ago, high rise wasn’t the problem it is in Sydney, but they have caught up rapidly
-unlike Sydney it seems they aren’t happy and are trying to do something about it
-mainstream politics and politicians are not listening and deserve to, and hopefully will fail to get support
–Victorian voters seem to be more concerned than those in NSW about amenity, life style, and social fairness across most communities and irrespective of the money divides further north … maybe it’s got something to do with the fact that they have more in common with each other there than in NSW where it’s somewhat encouraged that we do our own thing.
Note … sadly some Melbourne residents are responding to the same SPIN that is put about in Sydney …
“We’re not against development ”
WHEN in fact it is OVERDEVELOPMENT that you are opposing … because it is about the developer coffers overflowing … from marketing to our big neighbour to the North … that is locking out Our Families …
PLEASE SEARCH AND SHARE FROM CAAN’s WEBSITE
-anti-money laundering laws shelved (AML Legislation)
–real estate gatekeepers exempt from anti-money laundering laws (second tranche AML Legislation)
.real estate agents, lawyers, accountants, conveyancers excluded from these laws
–FIRB ruling allowing developers to sell 100% to overseas buyers
.50% sell off overseas only applies to housing projects of 50 dwellings or more (May 2017 Budget Regulation)
-currently 2.2 MILLION Visa Holders in Australia
–Visa holders who buy our real estate can gain a Permanent Resident Visa
AND MORE!
Melbourne’s booming population puts pressure on suburbs under siege from high-rise developments
By Nicole Asher
4 NOVEMBER 2019
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When the residents of a small inner-Melbourne block of public housing units built a community garden, they were picturing peaceful days in the sun, tending their vegetables.
Key points:
- Grassroots * campaigns are popping up all over Melbourne in opposition to the construction of large multi-storey developments
- Groups are worried about the impact on parking, transportation and loss of privacy
- An urban geographer said the developments failed to cater to community expectations and * “don’t have to be ugly”
“There was probably a good half dozen people out of the 18 units who were quite communal, in terms of the garden, growing vegetables,” said resident Marg Welsh.
“We’d have days where we were pruning roses or planting the tomatoes for summer.”
But a new 12-storey apartment complex across the road from her Abbotsford home cast a shadow over that dream.
“I pretty much gave up gardening in this space, I gave up planting vegetables, I just felt like I couldn’t be out the front,” Ms Welsh said.
Grassroots campaigns against multi-storey developments are cropping up across Melbourne where, to the ire of locals, apartment towers are popping up and colonising old residential suburbs.
“There’s a call for medium and high-rise development that’s sympathetic to the surrounds and respects other local people,” said Kate Shaw, an urban geographer at the University of Melbourne.
“People responding negatively to this kind of construction in their neighbourhoods are not responding negatively to the need to build more housing.
“They’re responding to the kind of construction that’s going on around them, which has no regard for their concerns, and no regard for the local neighbourhood and everything to do with making a profit.”
Not against appropriate development
In the leafy suburb of Elsternwick, south of the Melbourne CBD, residents are fighting to stop two high-rise apartment towers, of 10 and 14 storeys.
“This development will destroy the area with its related problems such as traffic, parking, noise, pollution, over-shadowing and loss of privacy,” said Kathy Deacon of the group Stop the Elsternwick Towers.
The plans have already been rejected by the Glen Eira City Council because of the “significant” impact the towers will have on the heritage area and on a planned Jewish cultural precinct.
*Ms Deacon insisted the group was not motivated by a not-in-my-backyard mentality.
“We’re not against development,” she said.
“This is an inappropriate development with no regard for local residents or communities.
“We understand that Melbourne is growing exponentially, and the need to provide housing, but not high-rise housing in the middle of a residential area.”
The Elsternwick plans will go before a hearing at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) later this month.
‘It doesn’t have to be ugly’
Victoria is growing faster than any other Australian state — the population is forecast to swell by 125,000 every year, reaching 11.2 million by 2056.
The Victorian Government estimates 9 million of those people will be living in greater Melbourne.
As the population booms infill development, developing vacant parcels of land in established suburbs, and increases to housing density are not only necessary but inevitable.
“It’s striking a balance between the need to develop to increase density to allow for an increased population, but also kind of preserve a place worth living in,” said Glen McCallum of the group Protect Fitzroy North.
Mr McCallum is part of a united cluster of local interest groups working to save a heritage shopping strip from being developed.
The group has nominated a section of Queens Parade, separating Clifton Hill from Fitzroy North, for heritage protection.
“We’re in one of the great heritage shopping strips in Melbourne, the only one that’s on an intact Hoddle boulevard,” Mr McCallum explained.
“People are going to need those spaces if they are expected to live at density in the future.”
University of Melbourne modelling suggests the city’s forecast population increase could largely be absorbed by medium-density housing around public transport hubs and main roads.
“It doesn’t have to be as ugly as it is, at the moment,” Dr Shaw said.
Residents ‘anticipating the worst’
Dr Shaw warned that not only were high-density developments failing to provide affordable housing, they were also failing to cater to community expectations in terms of design.
“It’s development that is very much in your face, very close to the neighbours, often blocking out neighbours’ light, often casting them into shadow,” she said.
“The problem is that there are so many bad examples that, when a proposal comes up, they [residents] could be forgiven for anticipating the worst.
“There are developments that are being done at the moment, particularly in the CBD, Abbotsford, Collingwood, Fitzroy, Clifton Hill, Brunswick and Northcote, which are just rude, really.”
Dr Shaw believes the solution to stopping unsympathetic high rises lies in giving more power to local governments to reject proposals.
“Bad examples are almost invariably approved at appeal, within the state government standards, but exceeding the local government standards,” she said.
“Local councils are pretty good at getting a sense of the scale and form [of a development] and recognising the desires of their residents.”
That is a sentiment shared by the Glen Eira council.
“VCAT has a role to play in reviewing planning decisions, as a way of providing a fair and equitable planning system,” said planning director Ron Torres.
“Decisions should give greater weight to local planning policies and the council strategic planning vision for its areas.”
A Victorian Government spokesperson described the state’s planning system as open and transparent, allowing people to have their say.
“VCAT is an independent arbiter and considers submissions from all parties — including local councils,” the spokesperson said.
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