Bayside City Council is disappointed that the Victorian Government is finalising planning controls for four Bayside Activity Centre precincts without meaningful consultation with Council and the community.
The Activity Centres Program is part of the Victorian Government's Housing Statement, which aims to deliver more than 300,000 additional homes across Melbourne by 2051.
Four areas in Bayside have been included in the expanded program including North Brighton (Bay Street); Middle Brighton (Church Street); Hampton (Hampton Street); Sandringham (Sandringham Village). This follows on from the original 10 centres in the Pilot Program which included Moorabbin/Hampton East.
The Victorian Government held two phases of consultation on their plans for the expanded Activity Centres Program. Despite promises that Councils would be genuine partners in the process, the planning controls have changed little from those proposed before phase 2 of consultation.
Bayside Mayor, Cr Debbie Taylor-Haynes said it was incredibly disappointing that the considerations of Council and the community were not incorporated in the finalised planning controls.
"The Victorian Government previously promised to work collaboratively with Councils following the lack of meaningful consultation during the pilot program. Unfortunately, this has continued to not occur," Cr Taylor-Haynes said.
"Decisions of this scale need to be communicated properly with the relevant local Councils, particularly when they will fundamentally change our neighbourhoods and place additional pressure on local infrastructure."
Council remains concerned that the pace and scale of housing growth may come at the expense of the everyday experience of people who live, work and spend time in our neighbourhoods.
"Bayside understands the need to plan for housing growth, but growth must be properly planned and supported," Cr Taylor-Haynes said.
"Our community expects transparency, genuine engagement and clear answers about how infrastructure impacts will be managed, not after decisions have already been made."
The news comes despite Bayside being on track to meet the housing targets put forward by the Victorian Government.
Council has been strongly advocating to the Victorian Government on behalf of our community to ensure that housing growth respects the character, liveability and local identity that Bayside residents love.
Read how Bayside will be impacted, and find out more about the program.
