“Towers of shame”: Minister for Planning quietly approves Marvel Stadium plans

Minister for Planning Sonya Kilkenny has ignored scathing feedback from the City of Melbourne to gazette the AFL and Development Victoria’s controversial redevelopment of Marvel Stadium’s waterfront edge.

Despite councillors lining up back in May to express serious concerns with the plans in their current form, the planning minister has signed off on site-specific controls and a master plan for three towers between 140 and 160 Harbour Esplanade.

The council learned of the decision amid the busy aftermath of its marathon Future Melbourne Committee (FMC) meeting on August 13 where it controversially voted to end its involvement in the state government’s shared e-scooter trial.

Cr Jamal Hakim spoke to Docklands News outside AFL House on August 15 flanked by angry Docklands residents, saying the approval didn’t include any of the significant changes proposed by the council.

In slamming the project as “Development Victoria’s towers of shame”, he lashed the state government for using Docklands as a “dumping ground” for “development that lacked vision or foresight about the future of the area”.

While the Minister has only approved a planning scheme amendment, with future detailed designs for the three new towers still to come, it marks the first major step in the precinct’s transformation.

The joint project by Development Victoria (DV) and the AFL and designed by Grimshaw Architects is seeking to construct three new towers on Harbour Esplanade on two sites currently occupied by the Channel 7 building and AFL House. A range of uses across the three buildings is mooted, including offices, a function centre and retail, with options for homes and a hotel.

While current planning controls for both sites stipulate height limits of 75 and 60 metres, respectively, the amendment has sought to supersede these by constructing towers 129, 113 and 80 metres high.

Councillors were presented with an “incorporated document” at their May 7 FMC meeting, which outlined the proposed site-specific controls that DV and the AFL had requested the project be assessed against.

Both Lord Mayor Nick Reece and the council’s chair of planning Cr Rohan Leppert were united in their critique of what was presented, with the latter damning of the plan’s lack of strategic justifications.

Cr Leppert took aim at Development Victoria for failing to reveal what it was planning for Harbour Esplanade and the surrounding waterfront at Central Pier and said the strategic thinking for the precinct was being done “the other way around”.

Addressing questions alongside Minister Kilkenny at an event on August 20 during the announcement of an approval for a new development at Queen Victoria Market, the Lord Mayor said the council was “disappointed” with her decision.

“The City of Melbourne did not support that project,” Cr Reece said. “We had some reservations about it in terms of the scale and the bulk of it. In the report that was endorsed by council we put forward a number of recommendations that we thought would improve the project.”

“The minister has now approved the project, exercised her prerogative to do that – we were a referral authority on that project given its size and scale. The minister is the relevant authority, she’s the final decision maker, she’s made a decision.”

From a City of Melbourne perspective, we’re disappointed with that because it doesn’t align with what we thought would be the best outcome.

In response, Minister Kilkenny said that while the government would always “support and engage with local communities … at the end of the day, this is about delivering an enhanced precinct down at Docklands.”

“I see this as a terrific opportunity to really reinvigorate that area,” Minister Kilkenny said.

“It’s such a well-located site – there are so many opportunities to enhance retail opportunities, the sporting precinct, more homes and really bring additional people into the area as well and drive the local economy.”

She added that Docklands was a “fabulous area” and that “there is a great community spirit, and I’m really pleased that we’re going to see a redevelopment of Marvel Stadium that is going to enhance the area even more.”

In a press release issued on the approval on August 19, Minister for Development Victoria Colin Brooks played on Docklands’ “key role in delivering much-needed housing”.

“Future redevelopment of these sites, and their integration with Marvel Stadium, will allow us to deliver more homes, jobs, shops, restaurants and entertainment to the Docklands waterfront,” Minister Brooks said.

The AFL’s executive general manager infrastructure Matthew Chun said any future redevelopment of these sites would “only amplify” the precinct. “We look forward to continuing next steps in development,” Mr Chun said.

But Cr Hakim said the community remained concerned by the lack of information coming from the project’s proponents, as well as the lack of public benefit being proposed.

“This proposal provides no information and promises to deliver the most monstrous overwhelming building in the city,” he said.

“In ignoring the community’s voice, and the recommendation from council, the Minister has demonstrated a complete lack of interest in fixing the planning errors in Docklands.”

“To be successful, this development must meet the criteria that every other developer and planning application is required to have in our city and this cowboy approach is damaging to Melbourne’s standing and reputation.” •