🟠 Box Hill’s concrete jungle

WHAT’S COMING UP 🎟️

• SUNDAY 12/07/26, 4-6PM | Vika and Linda

• FRIDAY 17/07/26, 7-9PM | Monash Musique

• SATURDAY 18/07/26 AND SUNDAY 19/07/26, 9AM-5PM | Melbourne Comic and Toy Fair

• TUESDAY 21/07/26, 9-11.30AM | Yarran Dheran Nature Reserve – Monthly Bird Survey

• EVERY DAY TO SUNDAY 26/06/26 | Immerse

• EVERY DAY TO SUNDAY 12/07/26, 10AM-5PM | Play School: Come and Play!

📰 THIS WEEK’S HEADLINES

🏗️ Box Hill residents call five percent Brickworks open space recommendation a betrayal

A planning panel has recommended just five percent of the seven-hectare Box Hill Brickworks site be set aside as public open space, a decision Whitehorse council and community groups are urging the Planning Minister to reject.

Released in March 2025, plans for the Suburban Rail Loop East identified the Box Hill Brickworks site as a future mixed-use residential neighbourhood.

On July 1, a planning panel released its recommendations for the area, including advice that future developments at the Box Hill Brickworks site only be required to set aside five percent of the land as open space.

The site’s owner, Phileo Australia, first proposed a fixed height limit for apartment buildings of 21 metres or five to six storeys, but later sought approval for housing up to 10 storeys around the edge of the site, with the potential for taller buildings toward the centre.

Whitehorse council argued the entire site should become open space, with 25 percent its second preference.

Mayor Kirsten Langford said setting aside just 0.35 hectares was "not good enough".

"Densification plus open space equals liveability," she told the Eastern Melburnian.

Box Hill Brickworks Parkland Association president Vincent Mennilli said the community deserved a “more common-sense approach”.

"It really feels like we're being betrayed and totally ignored," he told the Eastern Melburnian.

The Planning Minister has approved the final structure plans and planning scheme amendments for all six SRL East stations. The release of the approved plans is expected later this month.

Once approved, developers can then prepare a master plan within the amended planning scheme.

☀️ Boroondara council votes to allow solar panels on 14,800 heritage properties without permits

Boroondara Council has voted 5-3 to remove planning permit requirements for rooftop solar on heritage-listed properties, but a three-and-a-half hour debate and post-meeting rescission motion means change is still delayed until at least the next time councillors meet.

Around 14,800 properties in suburbs including Kew, Hawthorn, Canterbury and Camberwell are covered by heritage overlays, meaning owners of these properties have to overcome planning restrictions to renovate or develop their homes.

These overlays have meant visible solar panels on these properties require a planning permit.

Council officers said this approach meant heritage was prioritised over environmental goals.

Boroondara Council’s July meeting saw councillors consider whether these requirements should change.

A motion was brought forward and eventually passed 5-3 after a marathon debate that continued for almost four hours. One councillor abstained from the vote and two others were absent.

According to the Australian PV Institute, 21 percent of low-rise dwellings in Boroondara have solar.

The council aims to cut community greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent by 2030, compared with 2020 levels. Its BooST program offers free home energy assessments and subsidies of up to $2,000 for energy-efficiency upgrades.

Councillors opposing the change argued removing permits could damage heritage, while supporters said heritage protection, lower energy bills and climate action could co-exist.

The councillors who voted against the motion argued removing the permit requirement could undermine the council's ability to protect heritage-listed properties, despite the potential financial benefits of making rooftop solar easier to install.

Nineteen residents addressed the committee over a span of about two hours. Eight supported removing permit requirements, nine backed reducing permit requirements and two wanted no change.

To inform its decision-making process, the council distributed a postal survey to 4,000 owners of heritage properties and received 1,075 responses. Of those without solar, more than half said they would likely install it within 12 months if barriers were addressed. Cost, aesthetics and planning controls were the main factors, with 29 percent saying permit requirements were a barrier.

A Notice of Rescission was filed after the meeting, meaning the CEO must now postpone any action until the council returns to debate and vote upon the motion.

If the rescission motion is lost, the original motion will stand unchanged and council staff will write to the Planning Minister, seeking authorisation for a planning scheme amendment.

A NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

🎰 Having the guts

The Albanese Government’s gambling reforms will be going to the Senate for review.

A slither of hope for those wanting genuine reform of an industry that takes $32 billion a year from the Australian public.

The review will likely lead to some tinkering around the edges of the reforms, but will it include the complete ban on gambling ads victims, advocates and experts have been calling for?

Archie Milligan from the National Account took a look into why the government is dancing around the issue.