Kingswood - the Central Park
of Dingley Village
April 2022 NEWSLETTER
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Update 10/4/2022 🔺 Planning Minister Wynne is not obliged to reveal the contents of the committee report, 🔺 nor advise when he receives it, 🔺 nor follow the recommendations exactly 🔺 nor take notice of Council, Residents and 8,000 objections 🔺 nor tell us when a decision will be made in future. 🔺 Democracy? 🔺 Kingston Council rejected three plans, 8,000 objections received! Yet still it goes to the Planning Minister. 🔺 Democracy?
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AustralianSuper has managed to get Kingston Council, 8,000 objectors, plus all politicians and councillors in the area offside.
They intend to make Dingley Village virtually unliveable for the 10,000+ residents.
♦️ AustralianSuper took risks with Member’s money
• when they purchased Kingswood without checking with council if a rezoning was possible,
• By presenting horrific plans,
• by not consulting Residents or Council prior to purchase,
♦️ Have spent an estimated over One MILLION Dollars fighting Council and Residents, plus presenting three different plans
♦️ Are relentlessly trying to cut down many trees - 100 applied for so far
According to all Super Funds and AustralianSuper's recent CEO, Ian Silk, harming the environment is against Super Fund’s goals - and illegal
♦️ Their plans will flood Dingley Village. To paraphrase their application "Give us a permit and we will work out the flooding later!!"
SEE THE FLOODS LINK BELOW
♦️ AustralianSuper has used dubious PR, deception and stunts
♦️ Planning Minister Richard Wynne said: “Planning outcomes are always better when the voice of the community is heard.”
♦️ AustralianSuper has no plan to save any of the protected wildlife, including endangered species
♦️ Hon Mark Dreyfus added: “It's important to get it right and the currently proposed development of the Kingswood golf course is not even close.”
♦️ Our consulting Architect said “Dingley Village should not have to suffer, due to an inappropriate purchase by AustralianSuper”.
♦️ George Hua, Dingley Village ward councillor said: “Being on Council for more than 5 years, the owner of the Kingswood site is the worst developer I have ever seen.”
♦️ Project spokeswoman Anna Martiniello said “there were no apartments or multistorey buildings” At that time there were hundreds of three storey buildings in their application!!
♦️ Current plans show nearly 700 three storey units, even though Dingley Village currently has ZERO!
♦️ Fiona Dunster - AustralianSuper’s Senior Investment Director Development said "We made a decision not to consult" admitting they deliberately avoided talking with the Community Groups.
♦️ This fiasco is the perfect text-book example of how not to purchase a Golf Course.
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13-4-2022
The Save Kingswood Group and the DVCA met with Liberal leaders on site in the park in Greenwoods close to discuss Kingswood Golf Park issues.
The group comprised…
• Ryan Smith – Shadow Minister for Planning
• Gordon Rich-Phillips – Upper House MP
• Anthony Richardson – State Liberal Candidate for Clarinda
• Robbie Beaton – Federal Liberal Candidate for Isaacs
• Savitri Bevinakoppa – Federal Liberal Candidate for Hotham
The meeting was nearly one and a half hours and there was an excellent exchange of information.
They were very interested in our presentation and offered to assist
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Our response to the above clipping
Bulk tree removal
Does anyone believe for a second AustralianSuper’s justification for 21 tree destruction applications at once on Kingswood? That totals nearly 100 tree destruction applications to date, even with no rezoning!
Their sole aim was to make it difficult, nigh impossible, for residents to object, as they ensured 21 objections were required, based on the hundreds of pages submitted. In a normal group application, each tree is considered individually - they absolutely know that - so their response is a shocking impost on Kingston Council and residents.
They also know their own arborist does not rate the trees dangerous, with one rated at a one in 500 million risk of harm.
After their 21 applications were rejected, they took them to VCAT. I said “if you pull the 21 seperate applications stunt again at VCAT, I’ll expose you”. Surprise, they agreed to a grouped appeal.
We are reminded they neglected to ask Council and residents if they could build on Kingswood - a special-use zone protected site, before purchase.
Despite 8,000 objections and AustralianSuper spending over one million dollars of member’s money fighting Kingston Council and Residents with “ghetto” plans, they continue to fight us all.
An example of their greedy compression at all costs, is the 88 lots they want to “sardine” into the same area currently occupied by just 15 homes!
All AustralianSuper’s applications, if implemented, would cause misery for 10,000 residents and annihilate the wildlife sanctuary. They have no plans to preserve any protected wildlife! We have witnesses to their comment that there was no plan to save wildlife.
They also overlooked millions of litres of flood water and will flood Dingley Village.
All these methods ensure AustralianSuper destroys the environment. That’s illegal, according to AustralianSuper's recent CEO Ian Silk: "Superannuation funds failing to consider ENVIRONMENTAL, social and corporate governance risks when investing their members' retirement savings are in breach of their duties and therefore the law, says the head of Australia's biggest industry super fund."
“There is ample evidence to show that companies with poor ESG (environmental, social, governance) practices and performance don't do well in the long term.”
Kevin Poulter
President, Save Kingswood Group inc.
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💧💦 AustralianSuper's plans overlook many things, especially millions of litres of floods.
Yet to paraphrase, they said in their application "Give us a permit and we will work out the floods later!"
Our comment: Yeah, right, pigs might fly.
MUST SEE
Click HERE for FLOODS
Click HERE for the MAIN file sent to the committee
Click HERE for the DECEPTION file sent to the committee
Click HERE for best golf file sent to the committee
Click HERE for OVERLAY
Click HERE for Kingston Council Media Release
Click HERE for FaceBook report
🔺No Net benefit for Dingley Village
🔺A twenty percent increase in our Village population
🔺Not in Village Character. Dingley Village currently is overwhelmingly one or two storey individual homes, an estimated 80% of large family lots being 550 - 650sq metres. The developer wants 823 lots, with many less than 300 sq metres.
🔺No Community facilities like sporting ovals.
🔺Under-provision of parking for residents, coupled with anticipated narrow streets. They have even applied to reduce their parking obligations! So each tiny apartment will have up to four cars in tiny streets and nature-strips. (Parking on Nature strips in Dingley Village is a $120 fine.)
🔺No consideration of Amenity.
🔺The Kingswood Board, nor the developer have ever consulted residents in a manner that resulted in our ideas being properly adopted. Despite Simon Brookhouse - the Chief Executive Officer of Golf Victoria publishing guidelines for Golf Club mergers, stating that clubs should engage residents first.
Displays, invitations to comment and surveys by the developer have always been “this is what’s happening - like it or not”. They then use any resident’s feedback against us. Not one of the resident’s comments have been adopted in a satisfactory manner. The DVCA and Save Kingswood have not heard from the Developer for years.
🔺The developer has multiple responses on their website, belittling the value of wildlife and the park in general, in direct response to our objections (see examples further on)
🔺No preservation of the thousands of trees, estimated at 20,000 native Dingley Village trees, as that’s the number of indigenous trees planted.
🔺One of their plans showed a single tree preserved.
🔺Loss of the only significant treed open space in Dingley Village.
🔺The “lungs” cooling, filter and oxygen production for Dingley Village. As advocated by all councils.
🔺Unimaginable thousands of Birds and wildlife lost. How many will be killed or have their homes demolished by developers? The developers said there was no requirement to save wildlife. No plan even for endangered species
🔺Increased traffic - their own data suggests up to 6800 vehicle movements per day and 680 vehicle movements per peak hour, on a single lane road, plus soon (a) the Hawthorn Football Club traffic and (b) the Aqua Park traffic.
🔺Up to one hour to travel through Dingley Village when traffic increases - proven, as it’s already happened multiple times!
🔺It already takes up to 40 minutes to leave Dingley Village onto the Westall road extension
🔺Not enough Maternal Health places - waiting lists
🔺Child Care waiting lists
🔺Kinders already full
🔺Primary Schools full - portables installed on Dingley Primary preps front lawn playing area. In a recent year, Kingswood Primary turned away 75 applications.
🔺NO Secondary Schools - those in other distant towns full - portables installed and Parkdale Secondary has said “enough! we cannot have more portables”.
🔺Loss of an aircraft safety and noise buffer for thousands of circuits, take-offs and landings, including passenger Jets and Helicopters. Moorabbin Airport is just seconds flight time away and is one of Australia’s busiest Airports. The Golf Course is also the flight path and health plus noise issues are of concern. They already exceed limits
🔺Health services overloaded now, regularly wait up to 2-3 weeks for the Doctor of your choice.
🔺Lack of sporting facilities now, before 2,200+ extra residents
🔺The developer had the incredible audacity to show the flood lakes (retarding basins) plus overflow areas in their open space! Those flood areas will not be owned by them.
Dingley Village already floods, before they cover over the Golf Course and Aquifer. Melbourne water has almost no idea of flood incidents, that still occur after they tried to clear 1.4 kilometres of the main drain for a month! The existing Retarding Basin already overflows and mainly soaks into the Golf Course. They want to cover the site with paving, roads and buildings and fantasise that a new retarding basin will hold back the tsunami of waters from upstream Springvale and remain on the site.
🔺A homeowner close to the golf course park has been flooded for years.
🔺Shopping more difficult - the carpark is already regularly full, often twice a day - will residents again shop out of town to avoid the chaos?
🔺No developer will provide the $20 - $40 million needed to address the essential needs of Dingley Village.
🔺The Community Centre overloaded - already needs more space, not provided by the current re-modelling.
🔺A 20 percent increase in Village population - new town in the centre of town. Overloading a Village that is up to an hour away in peak traffic from Cheltenham railway station and the genuine Activity Centre.
🔺Years of Chaos, noise and Dust - a strain on medical facilities for asthma and other lung complaints. Proven in a nearby destruction!
🔺We are already meeting the State Government’s burden of over-population and providing enough housing.
🔺Expect more buses in your area, even though many run nearly empty now. Plus an attempt to re-introduce Bus Lanes on Centre Dandenong road, which was previously voted against by 96% of Dingley Village residents in two polls, including a Council poll. Bus lanes would create some of the narrowest road lanes in Melbourne, as Centre Dandenong road is a single lane
🔺NBN and other services clogged, so everyone endures a much slower connection than copper - proven in other areas.
🔺Sewer overloaded?
🔺Electricity huge demands will put stress on power, with potentially lower voltage and longer power outages
🔺Reduced mains water pressure?
🔺We object to a massive roundabout at the intersection of Spring road/McClure roads, plus a second road into Spring road (near where it floods), and roads into Wolbers road and Toorak roads. Both the latter quiet back roads that will become “rat races” / speedways.
🔺We object to the main “speedway” between Spring road and Centre Dandenong roads.
🔺Expect scorched earth of biblical proportions, killing or displacing thousands of wildlife and nearly every tree tree destroyed. One plan showed 19 trees preserved, another showed just one tree preserved.
🔺Where will the snakes and blue-tongue lizards go? Yes! Into some of the 140 backyards, through the open weave cyclone fence. Both Species are protected.
🔺How many Birds, Echidnas and other wildlife will have their habitat destroyed? How many will be killed by greedy developers?
🔺No consideration for the 140 neighbours on the boundary. They were told when purchasing in a premium area that they had “views forever”. Instead they will have years of dust, plus overshadowing, loss of privacy and noise forever.
🔺Do residents know that loss of home values or views are not acceptable objections? But the 140 boundary residents and the close neighbours will lose thousands of dollars in their home value. The developer had the gall to say home values in Dingley Village would go up!! The home value losses to the nearby community could easily exceed $40 million. It’s reasonable to expect homes on the boundary would each lose at least $100,000 each - and their views.
🔺Little consideration for infrastructure
🔺No consideration for current services needs, nor those they will impose.
They will BUILD AND BOLT, fleecing Dingley Village, leaving misery and existing homes under threat and quickly forget us.
We repeat:
No Net benefit for Dingley Village
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Politicians
Federal
🔺 We have regularly met with Mark Dreyfus, sitting Labor member for Issacs.
🔺 Recently met with Liberal candidate Robbie Beaton Federal Lib candidate for Issacs
State
🔺 I recently met with the sitting Labor member for Clarinda - which will be our seat at the next election. Meng Heang Tak. Heang met in sight of the Golf Course for about 40 minutes and appreciated our objections.
On Wednesday 13th I am meeting the Liberal candidate for Clarinda, Anthony Richardson, again in sight of the Golf Course.
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An example of AustralianSuper's extreme density plans ...
Click on the image for larger
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AustralianSuper contractors destroying a magnificent gum tree. Cut off to the ground! Even before any permit application is decided.
No other Golf Courses in Kingston have anywhere near as many "dangerous" trees.
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Web Page by
Kevin Poulter
Save Kingswood Group inc
15-4-2022
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