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Community-hosted Roundtable with Housing Minister Harriet Shing

Committee for Frankston & Mornington Peninsula attended and presented at a roundtable with Housing Minister Harriet Shing -  hosted by the Southern Women Action Network in Mornington.

Community groups, support centres, Homes Victoria, Mornington Peninsula Shire and frontline services attended the forum and presented the Minister with short term, medium term and long term initiatives the State Government can do right now to ease the housing crisis on the Mornington Peninsula.

The Committee made submissions around the following policy areas:

Short-term

  • The Committee has led advocacy on funding raised from the short-stay levy to be spent on housing on the Mornington Peninsula. Regrettably, after writing to Homes Victoria following a meeting with Treasurer Tim Pallas, Homes Victoria have confirmed all funds raised will be spent in key activity centres and 25% reserved for regional Victoria. This means the Mornington Peninsula will miss out on funding from this levy despite being the local government area with the most STA in Victoria.
  • Similarly, in the short term, the Committee is advocating for Victoria’s Big Housing Build to be better spent and utilised in our region. Just .15% of the $6.3 billion flagship program has been spent in the Shire ($10-14 million). It’s the fourth lowest amount of funding in Metropolitan Melbourne, despite the Shire having the second worst rate for homelessness and those sleeping rough in Melbourne. Meanwhile, $214.5 million has been delivered in Greater Geelong – a community with the same population and economic output as Frankston/Mornington Peninsula, but with $156.5 million more in Big Build funding outcomes than FCC and MPS LGA’s combined.
  • The Victorian Government should help reduce all current barriers that exist which prevent appropriate developments from taking place, including: stamp duty concessions for the Shire which are taxed at a regional rate. The Victorian Government should also encourage the local government to do everything it can to reduce planning restrictions and prevent unnecessary delays.
  • State or Federal Governments should provide greater certainty over recurring funding for community support centres on the frontline of the housing crisis on the Mornington Peninsula.
  • Government should immediately include the Mornington Peninsula Shire LGA in all Regional Housing Grant Programs, as it does for Regional Tourism Grant Programs. This change would have minimal impact on government expenditure and would instantly allow the Shire to access housing funding that is more relevant to our challenges than the metropolitan grants for which were are only eligible.

 

Medium term

  • A once in a generation opportunity now exists to rezone surplus port-zoned land in and around Hastings. In 2018, this was identified as 585 hectares – but there is a new Port strategic plan underway to determine how much land should now be rezoned. Since 2018, when the surplus land was identified for rezoning, nothing has progressed at a Victorian Government level. Now’s the time to begin planning for Westernport’s future, and where new dwellings should be built on the ‘forgotten’ side of the Mornington Peninsula. 
  • The Government can act now and work with the Mornington Peninsula Shire to determine suitable land for rezoning from SUZ-1 to industrial and residential. The Shire’s own housing strategy believes it can comfortably accommodate new dwellings over the next 15 years, but it’s the period after this that we must begin planning for now.
  • Key worker housing models should be delivered in areas where it is difficult for industry to obtain workers. This is particularly an issue in healthcare, aged car, hospitality, and tourism. Key worker housing should be built close to major roads and public transport corridors to connect people with employment opportunities and provide affordable accommodation close to where they work.
  • We call on the government to identify appropriate SUZ-1 land to be rezoned residential within the next twelve months to allow for community, local government and developers to begin planning for the next homes to be built for a new generation of residents.

 
Long term

  • Deliver public transport and services to where people are living. 82% of the Mornington Peninsula Shire has no access to public transport, so this means it is difficult for residents to access basic services, workplaces, education facilities or health care unless they own a vehicle.
  • Improving the Stony Point rail line and local roads will ensure that new homes delivered in SUZ-1 re-zoned land in Westernport will ensure new dwellings are built near major arterial roads and public transport corridors.
  •  We call on the government to deliver a commitment to improve the rail corridor towards Hastings and invest in public transport where communities will be located across Western Port. Additionally, activity centres in key townships like Hastings should be built with high density homes close to transport options.

 

 
The Committee for Frankston & Mornington Peninsula would like to thank SWAN for facilitating this conversation and the Minister for making herself available.

Solutions to these problems require a multi-government approach, and the solutions will not come quickly and they will not be easy.

However, the Mornington Peninsula Shire fails to receive the support it requires to address these challenges adequately.

Despite facing significantly regional challenges around housing, the Shire is competing against Brighton and Fitzroy – not Geelong and Gippsland. This automatically puts us at a disadvantage when it comes to attracting funding and competing against alike regions.

This is where we hope the government can find nuance and deliver us the resources required to help address the housing crisis on the Mornington Peninsula.



 CFMP CEO Josh Sinclair presenting at the Housing Roundtable with Minister Harriet Shing.