VIC government unveils 50 higher-density zones across Melbourne

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The Victorian government has announced 50 higher-density housing development zones across Melbourne.

Transcript

00:00Premier Jacinta Allen says that she is a builder, not a blocker, and she wants to see more younger

00:07Victorians get into their own homes.

00:10So this is part of a grand plan by the state government to increase the housing stock here

00:14in Melbourne by about 300,000 homes.

00:18So some of those eastern, leafy and bayside suburbs could soon look quite different.

00:25Now we're talking about some suburbs including Toorak and Brighton.

00:30They're among 25 activity centres that have been announced by the state government that

00:36are close to train stations, which will have some really high-rise developments right next

00:42to those train stations, as well as scaled developments the further away you are, out

00:48to 800 metres away.

00:49So that's within a walkable 800 metre so-called catchment zone.

00:55Most of these 25 that have been announced, the first 25 out of 50, are in the eastern

01:02and southeastern suburbs.

01:04They are along the Frankston, Sandringham, Glen Waverley and Belgrave-Lillydale lines.

01:11And this follows an earlier announcement for 10 activity zones in areas like Broadmeadows,

01:18Frankston, Moorabbin, Ringwood, as well as Camberwell.

01:24And Premier Jacinta Allen says that there will be a consultation period with people

01:30to try to determine exactly how high some of these high-rise buildings will be, how

01:37many storeys.

01:38We have seen some suggestions mooted that they might be as high as 20 storeys.

01:43We know that, for example, in Moorabbin, they're going up to about 12 or so.

01:48But she says that it really will depend on suburb by suburb.

01:53And she says that this is long overdue.

01:55This is what she had to say.

01:57Anyone pretty much under the age of 40 knows just how tough it is to find a home, particularly

02:03to find a home maybe close to where they grew up, close to families.

02:07We've got to get on and build more homes, particularly in and around the suburbs of

02:12Melbourne.

02:13And building those homes right next to train stations just makes sense because they're

02:19well located to transport services and great connections to jobs and schools and opportunities.

02:25That's Premier Jacinta Allen speaking there.

02:27We've also heard from Dr Monique Ryan.

02:30She is the federal member for Kooyong and she says that there is a little bit of concern

02:35among her electorate about the fact that there are going to be nine of these massive

02:41activity centres with the high rise developments in the electorate of Kooyong alone.

02:46Some residents have expressed alarm about whether or not they will be able to get their

02:51children into the local primary or secondary school, as well as big questions about what's

02:57going to happen to some of those amenities and open spaces as well.

03:02What we've heard from Premier Jacinta Allen is she was asked whether or not a lot of the

03:06opposition to some of these plans really comes down to nimbyism.

03:11She said, well, you could look at it like that, but this fundamentally is because politicians

03:16have ignored this situation with the housing crisis for so long that we have got to the

03:20point where we are right now.

03:23So the government is now saying that those second 25 activity centres are likely to be

03:30announced probably by the end of the year.

03:34And in the meantime, obviously, there's going to be a lot of consultation that happens and

03:39questions asked by councils as well.

03:41Some critics have said that the state government has brought this out just as some of those

03:46councils are in caretaker mode because there are local elections, which means that the

03:52local councillors can't really prosecute these issues to their full extent.

03:57We will just wait to see what all of the results are in terms of consultation as to how the

04:03rezoning process will take place and exactly how this is going to impact those local neighbourhoods.

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