With Melbourne’s population predicted to double by 2050, Frankston has been identified as a key Metropolitan Activity Centre to support commercial and residential growth.
This means we have a golden opportunity to create a thriving hub of employment, investment and entertainment.
This change is already underway, with new businesses setting up in our CBD, our arts and tourism sector is nationally recognised, and governments at all levels are investing significantly in healthcare, transport, and education.
We have our eyes on the future, and our Draft Frankston Metropolitan Activity Centre (FMAC) Structure Plan sets out a framework to guide development within the FMAC over the next 20 years. It provides a clear direction on land use, housing, built form, employment, streetscapes, open spaces, movement, and transport.
FMAC is an important project for the region, which is expected to provide significant economic, social, and environmental benefits for the community.
The Structure Plan will guide how we invest money in the city centre and the types of development we want to encourage.
A few months ago, The Age published an article that I wrote about how much I love living in Frankston. It got a fair bit of traction online, with nearly 1,000 locals sharing their thoughts about Frankston’s liveability on Facebook.
It also caught the attention of Frankston City Council. A few weeks after publication, I received an invitation to interview Frankton City Mayor Nathan Conroy about the council’s plans for this part of the world. They wanted a residents’ point of view and they promised me that, no matter what, I could express my own opinions.
This is an important time in the City of Frankston. We are on the threshold of some major development. You may have noticed the giant crane up behind the footy oval, working away at building a 9-storey apartment complex called Horizon. This new building is going to be sensational. It will have luxury apartments, including a couple of penthouse suites that cost several million dollars. There will be a climate-controlled wine room and a personal chef that residents can ask to cook for them when they want to entertain their friends. Anyone who’s taken in the view at the lookout at Oliver’s Hill or at the eagle statue at the bottom of Nolan Street will get a sense of the outlook these lucky residents are going to enjoy.
Meanwhile, the caravan park in Seaford is reporting that up to 10 people a day are calling to find out if there are any spots available. A lot of people in this area are having problems finding a place to live, like so many people across all of Melbourne. Rents are spiking and inflation is biting.
I raised the issue of the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ when I met Mayor Conroy. He’s a young Irish chap that you may have seen around – he’s certainly friendly and he loves a chat. He’s also incredibly passionate about Frankston and it’s clear he wants to leave his mark.
Mayor Conroy and his fellow Councillors are working on various housing strategies that will attempt to address issues around social and affordable housing. But the priority right now is the Frankston Metropolitan Activity Centre Draft Structure Plan. Referred to as the FMAC Structure Plan, one of its central goals is to set preferred building height limits. But it also does more than that. It outlines what Council wants Frankston to be like in the future, including options for commercial, residential, retail and government services. It's a resource for the community to know what the Council envisages for our town, and it gives developers a strong sense of what they can apply to build here.
The FMAC Structure Plan is currently a draft, as it still needs to be approved by the Minister for Planning, the Hon Sonya Kilkenny, in June.
You might have heard of the FMAC Structure Plan because a vocal group of residents is calling it the ‘Great Wall of Frankston’. This is a pretty catchy tagline, I have to admit. Their graphic design skills, however, leave a lot to be desired. In their imagery, they’ve plonked a bunch of high-rise buildings (that are not to scale) along a birds-eye-view of Frankston and the foreshore. If you read the FMAC Structure Plan, you’ll understand that Council is not endorsing any development of buildings to the south of the South East Water building, contrary to what the Great Wall of Frankston people imply. Frankston’s beautiful foreshore will remain untouched. As Mayor Conroy likes to say, this is the “jewel in the crown.”
Here's a quick snapshot of the FMAC Draft Structure Plan: It divides the city into six distinct areas that will all undergo different levels of development over the next 20 years. These areas are called precincts and they include the city centre and the waterfront.
Most of the controversy surrounding this plan is focussed on the waterfront. Right now, there’s a lot of developer interest in building apartments and office blocks along the Nepean Highway between Davey Street and the bridge over Kananook Creek, where Frankston turns into Seaford.
When I met with Mayor Conroy, he explained that there are a number of development applications currently with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT), including some that Council rejected because of excessive height. You can imagine how many millions of dollars the land costs developers to buy, so it makes sense that they want to pile the storeys high to make their money back.
The FMAC Structure Plan will not dictate height limits. Instead, it would serve as a guideline of preferred heights to complement existing buildings already in the area. We’ve got to come to terms with the fact that the South East Water building and the Quest Apartments aren’t going anywhere. The preferred building heights in the FMAC Structure Plan are 12 storeys, or 41 metres which is around about the height of the Quest building.
This is another issue that I have with the Great Wall of Frankston graphic design. They make it look like any new buildings will tower over the Quest building, which just isn’t so. Instead, the new buildings will be in keeping with the surroundings.
Let’s unpack this concept of ‘preferred heights’ though. A developer can apply to go above or below the 41 metres. There need to be good reasons to do so and this will be determined on a case-by-case basis. So not all the buildings will be the same height. There are rules in the FMAC Draft Structure Plan about setbacks, shadows that the buildings create and the inclusion of retail and hospitality spaces at the bottom of the buildings, so that we can all enjoy the amenities of these places.
This level of development won’t happen overnight. The FMAC is a 20-year vision. A series of high-rise buildings won’t just magically appear. All applications for development projects which are either rejected by Council or objected to by residents are likely to end up being assesses and determined by VCAT. Previous plans, in 2005 and 2015, failed to get through Council because of community objections to the heights. The plan in 2015 called for building height limits of about 8 storeys – so around about the height of the South East Water building.
Right now, some community members are asking for 8 storey height limits, instead of 10 or 12. If only that plan had passed back then, we’d have some guidance now instead of essentially placing Frankston’s fate outside of the Municipality and into the hands of VCAT.
The developers do seem pretty keen. The apartments at the Horizon building have already sold out (interestingly, 80% of the buyers already live within 8 km of the site). So, the developers know there is demand. And, whether the FMAC Draft Structure Plan is endorsed by the Planning Minister or not, there will be more and more interest in building in Frankston over time.
Mayor Conroy wants to use this as an opportunity to revitalise the City of Frankston. He says that, with more apartments, and a pedestrian-friendly boulevard down Nepean Highway that links the CBD to the foreshore, we’ll have more people coming to Frankston. More shops. More restaurants. More businesses.
The Council has produced a ‘fly-through’ video that imagines a transformed Frankston. This version of Frankston has more trees, more shops and cafes, safer streets. At the moment, there are plenty of empty shops along the Nepean Highway and you might agree with me that the whole stretch along there could do with a spruce up.
I really enjoyed meeting the Mayor. It was a privilege to have this opportunity, as a reporter and as a resident. It’s great to know what’s happening in my town and to have the chance to share my thoughts with others. Personally, I care deeply about homelessness in Frankston and I want to see a close of that divide between rich and poor. No matter how much revitalising we do, we have to admit that there’s disadvantage here. In my mind, the FMAC Structure Plan, and the Housing Strategies that will follow for the whole area – are fantastic opportunities to build social and affordable housing for the people who need it.
I encourage you to read the FMAC Draft Structure Plan, or at least watch the videos on the Council’s website about it. Check out their vision for the Nepean Highway and Oliver’s Hill in an animated fly-through. Balance out what the Great Wall of Frankston people are saying with what the Council is telling you.
There’s still time to have a say. There will be even more consultation processes when this plan is before the State Government.
You can watch the fly-through and my interview with the Mayor on the Frankston City Council website, or you might see them floating around on social media. No doubt these videos will generate comments and conversation, and I reckon this is exactly what we need to make Frankston the best place it can be.
Lyndall Thomas is a writer and reporter who lives in the City of Frankston.