Grattan St site earmarked for housing amid government’s latest wave of changes

As part of the state government’s new development strategy for Victoria, it plans to unlock more homes by establishing two new activity centres in inner Melbourne and unlocking government land for development.

However, experts are calling for the government to reconsider its deregulatory approach, and the recent decision to sell accommodation owned by the Royal Women’s Hospital has been questioned by the medical community.

The accommodation service on Grattan St, Carlton, was available for patients from regional Victoria who had to travel long distances to Melbourne for specialised care, with most able to stay free of charge.

However, it will instead be demolished and replaced with housing, with patients expected to book hotels using a $45 per night accommodation allowance from the Victorian Patient Transport Assistance Scheme.

The hospital-owned site is one of six public land parcels that will be sold by the Allan government under its Small Sites program, which forms part of its recent housing statement.

As reported in The Age, hospital staff conceded the flats were rundown, but it was a mistake to offer no alternative.

In addition to the unlocking of government land, as a part of the housing statement, new activity centres will be established in the Cities of Yarra and Melbourne, focusing on increasing developments around train and tram corridors, upzoning strategic sites, introducing new planning controls, and fast-tracking specific site developments.

To achieve this, the government has announced its intention to work alongside both the City of Melbourne and the City of Yarra councils, stating that “nothing is off the table” to help unlock more homes.

In the recently released Plan for Victoria, the state government has set a target of 119,500 new homes by 2051 for the City of Melbourne, which Lord Mayor Nick Reece said highlighted opportunities for additional housing in inner-city municipalities.

“We welcome the Victorian Government’s plan to build more homes close to transport, jobs, and services,” Cr Reece said.

However, RMIT University Emeritus Professor of Environment and Planning Michael Buxton believes that the activity centres will reduce the power of local councils and diminish residents’ rights.

Prof. Buxton told Inner City News that the state government’s focus on changing planning controls to unlock more homes presented a “false narrative” to justify “deregulation”.

“There are better ways to do it, and councils have been doing it pretty well up until the government jumped in and threw everything away,” Prof. Buxton said.

He noted that the “fast-tracking” of developments, particularly the Development Facilitation Program (DFP), is depriving residents of their right to “object” and “appeal”.

The program is an accelerated assessment pathway for projects that invest in the Victorian economy, support jobs, and create homes, including streamlining the planning process for residential developments that deliver at least 10 per cent affordable housing.

However, Prof. Buxton believes that mandated affordable housing targets and stricter planning rules would be more effective than the current deregulatory approach.

According to Prof. Buxton, the planning system has become a scapegoat, with the state government using it to justify the lack of housing in the city while failing to adequately address other contributing factors such as the taxation system and building costs.

“The government refuses to bring in more certainty through mandatory rules,” he said. “That’s been the problem, and the government blames the planning system without identifying the real issue.”

Lord Mayor Cr Nick Reece said, “We urge the Victorian Government to set a clear target for affordable housing to ensure Melbourne remains the best and fairest city.”

“The city has a shortfall of at least 6,000 affordable rental homes, and if we do nothing, this will almost quadruple to more than 23,000 by 2036.”

To date, the only council land earmarked for development into affordable housing is a car park at 325-341 Victoria Street, West Melbourne, with a second site in North Melbourne deferred until the impacts of the first development are assessed.

A structure plan for urban renewal in Arden was also approved in 2022 without any affordable housing targets, which former City of Melbourne councillor Rohan Leppert described at the time as “outrageous”. •