MR MORRIS (Mornington) (13:52:29) — I rise this afternoon to congratulate the Mornington Peninsula shire on the strong campaign they have launched against this government’s reckless disregard for our peninsula, its disregard for the amenity of peninsula residents and its disregard for the enjoyment the peninsula gives to the many thousands of people that visit each and every year.
The villages and towns of the peninsula are under threat from as-of-right 11-metre height limits and a three-storey housing policy, with no advertising and no opportunity for community input.
On 22 March the mayor launched a campaign to reverse what he termed the ‘three-storey McMansion threat to Mornington Peninsula villages’. He was right to do so because good planning, even planning that is undertaken over decades can be overturned by stupid decisions in the blink of an eye.
For decades there was bipartisan agreement on appropriate development for the peninsula, but that agreement was lost when Labor decided that Melbourne 2030-style policies should apply across the board. In government the Coalition reversed the worst excesses of this flawed scheme and put in place the Mornington Peninsula Localised Planning Statement.
Yes, damage had been done, but the situation was a long way from irretrievable. Unfortunately in a little over three years Labor has undone most of that good work.
On 8 June last year the opposition announced that if elected to government in 2018, it would restore the residential zones and restore the protections that Labor has stripped away.
There is a clear choice: the Liberal Party will return the sensible controls removed by amendment VC110; under Labor we will see the unique character and liveability of the peninsula overrun by urban development and lost forever.