Author: Mary Rimington
Submission
to The Victorian Urban Villages Project – Encouraging
Sustainable Urban Form
ATT: The Hon Robert Maclellan,
Minister for Planning & Local Government,
Nauru House, Collins Street,
Melbourne VIC 3000.
Dear Sir,
The quality of life or 'liveability' of towns and cities, and the
prosperity and well- being of their communities, depend on the
environment. However, the effects of
development on the environment are not always understood, and sometimes become
apparent only in the long term. The
imperative for economic development in Victoria and the actions it entails may
not always be in the long term interests of the environment - if they are not sustainable,
liveability, well-being and prosperity will be affected and possibly reduced.
Whilst accepting that there is a need to curtail Melbourne's urban sprawl by using urban consolidation initiatives, such as 'in-filling' of the suburbs, we believe that this initiative needs to be carried out in a much more sensitive manner than has been apparent so far, hence the formation of groups such as Save our Suburbs.
Just as some people welcome the opportunity to live in Central
Melbourne in high-rise apartments, there are many others who choose to live in
the green and leafy suburbs of Beaumaris, Hawthorn and Eltham. Many Melbournians have chosen to live in the
Bayside suburbs where they relish the views and huge sky-scapes. None of these suburbanites wish to see their
environment threatened by unsympathetic over-development caused by
over-shadowing, and loss of trees, gardens and open space.
There are many opportunities for 'in-filling' in Bayside suburbs which
would not destroy the ambience of these well established suburbs. For example, some of the strip shopping
centres in the narrow coastal strip in Kingston, between the Nepean Hwy and the
foreshore, are struggling to survive. However, by introducing some of the Urban
Village concepts, the commercial sector may revive.
The proposals contained in the Urban Village document suggest that
the upper storey of the commercial buildings be converted to residential and/or
restaurant premises that are close to transport, shops, recreation, schools and
possibly employment.
Proposals for increased density in the Bayside suburbs must be
confined to the previously mentioned shopping strips rather than increase
pressure on the foreshore in this narrow, fragile coastal strip.
The views from the upper storeys of these buildings are generally
more expansive than from the actual foreshore.
Furthermore, and most importantly, single and two storey dwellings along
the foreshore would not be over-shadowed or be subjected to severe wind
tunnelling which is disastrous for indigenous vegetation that provides
essential erosion control and a buffer between the sand dunes and residential
developments.
We note that both the Urban Village study and the Urban
Consolidation study suggest that industrial sites no longer required be
converted to residential development (provided that the sites are
de-contaminated). An example of successful
urban consolidation is the Lynch’s Bridge stockyard
housing development in Kensington. Large
redundant factory areas in Huntingdale, Clayton and Spotswood, close to rail
lines, provide an opportunity for eager developers to earn money by creating
attractive housing in an urban village setting.
The use of existing under utilised land would reduce the necessity to
demolish attractive residential properties in order to build town-houses.
Parks act as a community's back yard. Because current residential development has resulted in the loss of trees, gardens and recreation space, it is essential that planning regulations require the provision of parks to compensate for this loss. Land must be set aside or purchased to create new open space within easy walking distance from the residential development.
Further improvements in the amenity of the area can be achieved by
planting more and larger trees, calming traffic in local streets, improving
local parks, protecting the green wedge from residential development, and
implementing heritage controls for some suburban areas.
We respectfully request that there be full community consultation
before any new developments, as outlined in the Victorian Coastal Strategy, are
approved for the Activity Nodes around the bay, and that proposals for medium
density residential development in the bayside
coastal strip be subject to architect designed guidelines which include
restricting height limits, the removal of trees, and loss of open space.
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