{"id":497965,"date":"2026-01-07T03:16:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T03:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/497965\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T03:16:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T03:16:14","slug":"rosanna-apartments-approved-despite-police-ministers-protest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/497965\/","title":{"rendered":"Rosanna apartments approved despite police minister\u2019s protest"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rachael<\/p>\n

January 7, 2026 \u2014 11:52am<\/p>\n

Save<\/p>\n

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n

Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n

Save this article for later<\/p>\n

Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n

Got it<\/p>\n

A Rosanna housing development that sparked a cabinet-level rift has been approved by the Victorian government, overriding a local council rejection and a high-profile petition sponsored by Police Minister Anthony Carbines.<\/p>\n

The decision by Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny to use her \u201ccall-in\u201d powers ends a 12-month planning saga that has become a lightning rod for friction between the state government\u2019s housing targets and local resistance in Melbourne\u2019s leafy suburbs.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The approved plans for the 17-dwelling development at 125 Mountain View Parade, in Melbourne\u2019s north-east, consist of two buildings arranged around a central courtyard. The dwellings include a single one-bedroom apartment, eight two-bedroom apartments and eight three-bedroom homes with a basement carpark for 22 cars and 20 bikes.<\/p>\n

However, the state has now mandated stricter conditions than originally proposed; the developer must now increase the building\u2019s street setback by one metre and add more communal facilities including a pet wash and a bicycle repair station. Double-glazed windows are now mandated, and five of the complex\u2019s mooted visitor parking spaces must be converted to resident parking.<\/p>\n

Mountain View Parade resident Brent, who was one of those who signed the petition and did not wish to use his surname, said the tweaks would not dampen local opposition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe local amenity is just going to be destroyed,\u201d he said. \u201cOn any given day you can\u2019t get two cars down this street [as it is].\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Brent said he was now saving to purchase the property next door to his to avoid another apartment building in the street after the precedent.<\/p>\n

Banyule Deputy Mayor Rick Garotti said the council had \u201cserious concerns\u201d about being sidelined in the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe additional setback and other conditions are an improvement and represent a better outcome than the original proposal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, they don\u2019t fully resolve the issues council raised<\/a> around character, landscaping and neighbourhood fit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the controversy, the developer, Jim Clarke-Sullivan from SCS Property, said he believed the apartments would be popular.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s natural that planning changes can generate strong views in the local community, and everyone is entitled to express them,\u201d he told this masthead. \u201cThere\u2019s a clear need for single-level, generously sized apartments in Rosanna \u2013 we\u2019ve already received several enquiries from people who want to right-size locally and stay part of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Banyule council\u2019s rejection of the development last year was highly embarrassing for the Allan government. It was the first attempt at Melbourne\u2019s \u201coff-the-shelf\u201d Future Homes program<\/a>, which allows developers to purchase state-designed plans cheaply with the promise of a fast-tracked four-month approval process.<\/p>\n

\"SmallSmall property developer Jim Clarke-Sullivan on the Rosanna property in 2025.Photograph by Chris Hopkins<\/p>\n

However, the process stalled when the project hit the desk of local planners. Despite the proposal already having government approval, Banyule council knocked it back in February 2025 after a backlash from residents in an area dominated by large homes and swimming pools.<\/p>\n

Housing advocacy group YIMBY (Yes In My Backyard) Melbourne said at the time Banyule council was \u201cgiving a masterclass in how local governments foster the housing crisis\u201d.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Once Clarke-Sullivan took the matter to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, the political drama deepened. Local MP Carbines further undermined the initiative by sponsoring a petition to parliament<\/a> from a group of locals who had used bleak AI-generated images of the development on a now-deleted website calling the project a planning emergency.<\/p>\n

The 900-signature petition<\/a>, signed by Carbines and presented to the Legislative Assembly in October, branded his own government\u2019s policy a \u201cfailed pilot scheme\u201d and argued the \u201cquiet suburban street\u201d was not designed for such density. Premier Jacinta Allan defended Carbines from claims of hypocrisy<\/a> at the time, saying it was \u201cnot unusual\u201d for MPs to represent the views of their local constituents.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn AI-generated\u00a0image of the Banyule development depicted as a grim slum, used on the website promoting a petition against the three-storey development.<\/p>\n

Kilkenny eventually seized the matter from VCAT and referred it to a standing advisory committee of independent experts for advice. Just before Christmas, the Governor in Council officially greenlit the project after the committee found the proposal \u201cexemplary\u201d in design, liveability and sustainability.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was incredibly relieved. It\u2019s been a long and pretty emotional journey,\u201d Clarke-Sullivan said. \u201cI\u2019m very pleased that the project has been independently reviewed at the highest level and recognised as appropriate, well-designed and beneficial for Rosanna.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clarke-Sullivan said he spent about $130,000 on the application process and paid for legal representation at VCAT and during the call-in, while carrying rising holding costs for finance, land tax and rates.<\/p>\n

\"VictorianVictorian Premier Jacinta Allan with Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny (left) and Police Minister Anthony Carbines.AAP<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s all money that ultimately adds risk and cost to building much-needed homes in Melbourne,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The 1608-square-metre site \u2013 which once held a large single home and tennis court \u2013 was explicitly earmarked by the state government on a searchable public website of all lots deemed eligible for the program because it is within 800 metres of a train station and an \u201cactivity centre\u201d, and has no heritage or neighbourhood character overlays.<\/p>\n

A state government spokesperson said: \u201cWe\u2019re focused on making it easier to build more homes right across the state to give more Victorians the opportunity to live close to what matters to them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Just two other Future Homes designs have reached construction phase \u2013 in Shepparton and Braybrook \u2013 since the program was launched in 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Carbines did not respond to request for comment.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/b><\/p>\n

Save<\/p>\n

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n

Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n

\"RachaelRachael Dexter<\/a> is a journalist in the City team at The Age. Contact her at rachael.dexter@theage.com.au, rachaeldexter@protonmail.com, or via Signal at @rachaeldexter.58Connect via Facebook<\/a> or email<\/a>.Most Viewed in PoliticsFrom our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"January 7, 2026 \u2014 11:52am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":497966,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4740,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-497965","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115851649708616830","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=497965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/497965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/497966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=497965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=497965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=497965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}