By Cam Lucadou-Wells
State Election candidates in Clarinda are united in opposition against a developer’s plans for the former Kingswood Golf Course in Dingley Village.
However, the fate of the controversial 823-home proposal remains in the hands of the State Planning Minister or her delegate minister.
Save Kingswood Group president Kevin Poulter says the seven-month wait for a decision means “we can only assume the news is not good”.
“What are they hiding? If there was good news about Kingswood, it would have been announced long ago.
“It is hugely wrong that one person decides, despite a (Kingston) Council team reviewing the developer’s various plans for over a year and rejecting them.
“Also 8,000 objections were received. What happened to democracy?”
Mr Poulter said many residents would prefer “no development”.
“However there are a good number in favour of a secondary school, especially if most trees are retained, floods are controlled and there are playing fields.”
Clarinda Labor MP Heang Tak has also opposed the AustralianSuper Residential Properties’ proposed redevelopment.
“If the Standing Advisory Committee recommends the former golf course be rezoned for housing, my view is that the application by Australian Super be rejected as excessive.
“It would place pressure on local services, create traffic congestion, cause environmental impacts and does not fit with the character of Dingley Village.”
Mr Tak says Kingston and residents were best placed to decide an “acceptable number” of dwellings.
Other candidates would prefer a school on the 54-hectare site.
Liberal candidate Anthony Richardson said he would advocate for a much-needed secondary school.
He said the Coalition, if elected, would oppose the current housing proposal and “negotiate a better outcome for the community”.
It would re-instate neighbourhood residential protection zones in Kingston, set two-dwelling limits and two-storey limits on each titled site.
“The community is clearly opposed to this development and has been left hanging by the Labor Government for far too long.”
Independent Hung Vo said he’d prefer to maintain the site as a golf course, or a combination of a “hobby farm and wellness gardens”.
It would also be ideal for a technical school, replacing lost TAFEs in Keysborough and Aspendale.
Greens candidate Jessamine Moffett was also against the proposal, which “squeezed” a “huge amount” of homes on “open land which is home to thousands of trees and a multitude of wildlife”.
“It’s disappointing to see how the community’s objections to this development have been ignored leaving them feeling unheard.”
Animal Justice Party candidate Sue Litchfield was also concerned by the loss of habitat, the amount of housing and potential loss of residents’ amenity.
Independent Caroline White said the Government reneged on 2018 election promises to protect the South East open spaces from over-development.
If elected “I will do everything I can to fight against the rezoning of the Kingswood Golf Course”, she said.
“Low density living and open spaces is what makes our Australian way of life desirable and I’m here to defend it.”
