Bayside City Council has launched legal proceedings in the Supreme Court of Victoria to view documents relating to the Victorian Government's Train and Tram Zone Activity Centres Program.
Four areas in Bayside have been included in the expanded program including North Brighton (Bay Street), Middle Brighton (Church Street), Hampton (Hampton Street), and Sandringham (Sandringham Village).
Planning controls within these key precincts have been overhauled to allow for an increase in building heights within and around the existing activity centres.
The Victorian Government has cited the housing crisis as justification for bypassing normal public exhibition and notice requirements when making planning scheme amendments.
Council is seeking to understand how those decisions were made, including how particular areas, such as Bayside, have been selected.
Council has engaged legal representation and issued a summons asking the Supreme Court to compel the Minister for Planning to make certain documents relating to her use of planning exemption powers available for inspection. A directions hearing has been scheduled for 24 June 2026.
Bayside Mayor, Cr Debbie Taylor-Haynes said Council had a responsibility to seek this information on the community's behalf.
"This legal process is about transparency. Our community deserves to understand what sits behind a decision of this scale that could significantly reshape their neighbourhoods," Cr Taylor-Haynes said.
"Residents are asking fair questions about how these decisions were made, and what evidence informed the Government's approach. Council has sought this information through letters and Freedom of Information requests and been refused. We are now taking this next step to obtain the documents needed to properly inform our community."
"We are pursuing this action to ensure the Victorian Government is transparent and accountable for the information it relied on."
Council has advocated strongly 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.
Council remains committed to ensuring that planning decisions affecting Bayside are transparent, evidence-based, and subject to appropriate scrutiny.
