Boroondara council has voted to let some heritage homeowners install rooftop solar without a planning permit, but people with more visible systems will still need council approval.

Around 14,800 properties in Boroondara are covered by heritage overlays, meaning many owners require a planning permit to install solar panels on the roof.

During a meeting in July, the majority of councillors voted in support of scrapping permit requirements for rooftop solar on heritage homes.

However, two councillors pushed to reverse the decision and bring the debate back to council.

In Boroondara council’s August meeting, councillors voted 6-5 to allow solar panels to be installed without a planning permit on most homes within the heritage overlay, as long as they are not installed on the more visible front-facing part of the roof.

Owners of heritage-listed properties with front-facing facades visible from the road will still be required to apply for a permit. However, council will waive or rebate permit fees.

Boroondara councillor Rob Baillieu said the final motion was “indistinct from the status quo” and a “wasted opportunity”.

“Climate change is an emergency that requires a proportionate response,” he told the chamber. “Climate change doesn’t need a permit, so why do we?”

Councillor Lisa Hollingsworth said reducing the permit requirements for heritage homes would lead to the “irreversible change … and degradation of Boroondara’s highly valued heritage”.

Boroondara council now has to ask the state’s Planning Minister for permission to put the changes out for public comment.

After the council considers all public feedback, the Planning Minister ultimately has the final say in whether an amendment goes ahead.

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Golf is booming in Maroondah. That is, if you’re counting the number of people turning up to play.

But according to committee members at Ringwood Golf Club, the influx of public interest has clogged up their course and driven long-time members to leave.

With both Ringwood and Dorset golf clubs owned by the council, it's a reality that Maroondah mayor Linda Hancock says supports “fair and equitable access to available tee times”.

Maroondah’s two council-owned courses – Ringwood and Dorset – are open to anyone who wants to book a round, without the annual membership fees attached to many private clubs.

According to a Ringwood Golf Club newsletter from August 2024, Maroondah management had begun “putting public golfers into vacant club competition times” and “proposed including public groups within the club's allocated periods”.

In a council report received in August 2024, the changes were made after members of the public complained that user groups were receiving “preferential treatment when it comes to bookings”.

Ringwood Golf Club president Paul Kennett said the biggest impact was being felt by members who still worked during the week, with the club recently losing three life members to other clubs.

From September 1, Maroondah is changing the booking rules across both courses, so that the person who makes a booking must play in that booking.

The maximum number of players one person can book will be reduced to four. Previously, one person could book eight people to play across two tee times.

According to Maroondah mayor Linda Hancock, the change will help “improve access for as many community members as possible”.

Hancock told the Eastern Melburnian the council was not looking into buying any extra land for a third golf course, nor were there plans to restrict the number of holes a group could play during peak periods.

Over the 2025/26 financial year, both courses recorded their highest annual attendance figures since records began in 1993, with players booking 104,888 rounds at Ringwood and 92,102 games played on the Dorset course.

This equated to more than 2,000 players visiting Ringwood Golf and about 1,700 a week teeing off at Dorset Golf.

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One Monday morning in 1923 during the rush of commuters entering and exiting Glenferrie station, the former manager of the old Hawthorn Commercial Bank branch sacrificed his life to try and protect more than £1,800 in cash.

Check out our video below to learn about how the robbery is linked to Melbourne gangster Leslie “Squizzy” Taylor.

1: Which suburb hosted Australia’s first drive-in theatre, opening in February 1954?

2: Where did Victoria’s first McDonald’s restaurant open in September 1973?

3: Which suburbs in Melbourne’s east did Australia’s first electric tramway connect?

4: Where was a platypus first successfully bred in captivity?

5: Where was Victoria’s first commercial vineyard?