Wednesday, 5 March 2025

 Richard WELCH (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (18:33): (1479) The action I seek is from the Minister for Planning. The plan for activity centres threatens to destroy the character of one of Melbourne’s greenest suburbs, replacing a thriving local shopping strip with high-rise towers – an excessive development that will permanently alter the area. The Blackburn community has made it abundantly clear they do not support this top-down rezoning. Yet under Labor’s planning agenda local voices are being ignored and councils are being stripped of their ability to stand up for their residents. The Blackburn shopping strip is a vital hub for small businesses, families and long-term residents who rely on its unique village-like feel, and for decades this area has been a place where locals gather, shop and connect. It now risks being turned into another soulless, high-density precinct, with no regard for community wishes. Beyond the attack on local businesses, this plan ignores the very reason people choose to live in Blackburn: its natural beauty and open spaces. Blackburn is one of Melbourne’s leafiest suburbs, home to a rich canopy of trees, established gardens and the cherished Blackburn Lake Sanctuary. The natural assets are irreplaceable. Labor’s reckless push for blanket, high-density zoning will see our green streets replaced with concrete towers, stripping the suburb of its beauty and identity, and putting enormous pressure on already stretched infrastructure.

There has been no meaningful consultation on this proposal. Once again, this government has announced sweeping changes without listening to the people who will be most affected. The community deserves the right to shape the future of its own suburb, not to have planning decisions dictated from Spring Street. Furthermore, this plan does nothing to address the real barriers to housing supply. Developers are not struggling to get projects approved, they are struggling to make them financially viable under Victoria’s crushing tax burden. If the government were serious about fixing the housing crisis, it would address excessive land taxes, stamp duty and red tape, instead of bulldozing communities into accepting unwanted high-rise developments. The action I seek from the minister is simple: join me this Saturday at the Blackburn market to hear directly from business owners and local residents about how they feel about this proposed activity centre. Come and listen to the people who will be most affected by imposing a one-size-fits-all planning agenda on a community that simply does not want it.