By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Neighbourhood flooding will worsen under a controversial housing proposal on the former Kingswood Golf Course, according to a residents group.
Kevin Poulter, of Save Kingswood Group, appeared at a state planning advisory committee hearing opposing a plan for 823 dwellings on the site on 26 November.
He said the developer AustralianSuper Residential planned to fill in two of the dams and a massive underground aquifer on site.
“Building on a flood plain is a deal-breaker. You can avoid this by not building.”
Downstream residents had recently suffered “shocking floods” including an estimated $500,000 repair bill for a resident in Lee Andy Court.
According to a past golf course captain, the retarding basin was drained and fed into the aquifer if heavy rain was expected, Mr Poulter said.
The dams and aquifer have a current capacity of 251 million litres of water storage, he said.
AustralianSuper’s plan would cut storage to about 25 per cent, Mr Poulter said.
“Expect a class action from Dingley Village residents when flood management is proven wrong.”
According to AustralianSuper’s submission, its flood storage solution would alleviate flooding for 70 properties downstream.
It was matching advice from Melbourne Water that 62 million litres flood storage was required.
AustralianSuper purports to create an inclusive, attractive, high-quality residential development”, with 14 hectares of open space including a ‘central park’ and wetlands.
“When complete, its tree-lined streets and parks will have 10 per cent more trees.”
Under its plan, it will remove more than 2400 of the 3284 trees on site. It would replace them with 2685 plantings.
In 2014, the superannuation giant bought the 53-hectare site on Centre Dandenong Road in Dingley Village for $120 million.
It sought to rezone the fairways and get a planning permit for 823 dwellings.
Locals, including Save Kingswood Group, Dingley Village Community Association and 8000 objectors to City of Kingston, have earnestly resisted the plan to “destroy the park”.
The plans were also rejected by City of Kingston, and criticized by local MPs from both major political parties.
Kingston Council submitted that the stormwater and drainage solutions were just a “preliminary assessment” with unanswered questions.
The amount of open space free from water bodies, drainage areas and tree reserves was “unclear if not manifestly inadequate”. Attempts to retain vegetation was “insufficient”, the council argued.
It submitted that the 5 per cent affordable housing was “insufficient” and “uncertain”, and that community consultation was “inadequate”.
Kingston argued that the land should have been offered to government before developers.
“Council knows of no sufficient, if any, efforts to determine whether any government authorities were interested in acquiring the land.”
At the direction of Planning Minister Richard Wynne, the issue is in front of a state planning advisory committee hearing.
The hearings continue until 23 December.
Its findings will then be considered by Mr Wynne.
