How do Ringwood’s locals feel about upcoming proposed three-to-six storey developments?

A new skyline is on the horizon for Ringwood as townhouse and mid-rise developments are fast-tracked, with new builds erupting where brick homes once lay.

❓What’s happening: A kick to development in the region comes off the back of new State Government regulations that have allowed for three-storey builds to be approved with limited restrictions.

• Other regulations proposed by the state government would roll out the red carpet for permit approvals for projects up to six storeys.

• All of this would lead to more old houses being knocked down as the process gets faster and faster.

✂️Cutting through red tape: The State Government’s Townhouse and Low-Rise Code came into effect in March, allowing planning approvals for townhouses and apartments up to three storeys to be fast-tracked.

• While councils were required to notify neighbours about a proposal, the right for an appeal at VCAT was removed.

• The State Government is also consulting on new standards for mid-rise residential developments between four and six storeys, with Whitehorse and Manningham councils critical of the proposal.

🔊Experts say this is the only option: The Grattan Institute released a report this week proposing three-storey homes be permitted on all residential land in capital cities and developments up to six storeys near transit hubs – a move it argued would cut rents by $1,800 a year and cut $100,000 off the median price for a home.

• 🗣️Lead author Brendan Coates said the country needed a “housing policy revolution”.

• The report found about 87 percent of all residential land within 30 kilometres of the centre of Melbourne was zoned for housing of three storeys or fewer.

💰A local example: Last month, two lots in Ringwood’s Metropolitan Activity Centre (MAC) went on the market – a total of 1,754 square metres.

• With its inclusion in an Activity Centre Zone, these properties require no third party notice, decision or review rights for the permit application – essentially fast-tracking approval without oversight from neighbours.

• The lots at 13 Larissa Avenue and 14 Bardia Street consist of a house with three bedrooms and three units with a total of seven bedrooms and three bathrooms.

• Promoted as prime investment potential, the asking price of $5 - $5.5 million is reflected in the pre-approval of plans to demolish the existing homes and develop thirteen 3-bedroom tri-level terraces homes, each with a double secured car space. 

🏡Building big: According to the listing from Barry Plant Heathmont and Ringwood, the property would be a “once in a lifetime… opportunity for builders and developers keen to commence their next large-scale project.”

• The real estate agents promoting the listing refused to comment further.

💭What are locals thinking? Alicia Swanson, who recently gave birth and has been looking for property to buy with her husband, said she would be supportive of low to mid-rise developments if it was affordable for the average prospective buyer. 

• Swanson said construction and more residents would make parking and congestion on Bardia Street worse. “If they've got more than one car, it's just going to be a nightmare,” said Swanson. “Now, it’s feeling like it’s getting out of control.”

• Kristy, who recently bought a unit on Bardia Street, told the Eastern Melburnian the speed of developments being approved and built was “concerning”.

• Other residents said they were concerned about the Ringwood Activity Centre Plan, which outlined plans for developments up to 20 storeys tall closer to the Eastland Shopping Centre.

👍Parliamentary support: Independent Ringwood MP Will Fowles told the Eastern Melburnian he supported the new reforms, saying low-rise and mid-rise apartments would create “much-needed housing options”.

• Hotham MP Federal Minister for Housing Clare O’Neil has endorsed delivering more housing supply as a solution for a number of years, recently saying the main answer to Australia’s housing challenges was to “build, build, build”.

🛑No sign of slowing: According to projections from consultant Informed Decisions (ID), Maroondah’s population will rise from 120,000 to almost 140,000 by 2046, with Ringwood set to jump by 38.91 percent over the next 20 years – the largest out of any Maroondah suburb.