How seriously is the City of Melbourne in engaging with the community?

Hide behind the shield or engage with your community.

There is a major issue with making planning decisions that affect people’s lives with no apparent need to apply even the most basic principles of natural justice.

The response that we receive from council officers is that planning proposals are exempt from public notice under the relevant planning controls. We accept that this is the legal position and provides a shield for not requiring public notice, but this surely does not mean that public notice cannot be given.

We believe that the City of Melbourne should be true to its commitment to community engagement and regardless of its ability to not advise the public of most planning applications, they should elect to do so. We use the title Hide behind the shield or engage with your community and we at EastEnders would be keen to work together in seeking this outcome.

Over recent weeks, EastEnders has been involved in three planning matters, two where we believed the recommendations of council officers were not aligned with community sentiment and in one case, inconsistent with the council’s own policies.

Two of the planning applications were considered by the council’s Future Melbourne Committee (FMC) on referral from the Minister for Planning who was seeking advice from the City of Melbourne. When the agenda for the FMC is issued publicly, the community can make a submission about anything that is being considered. This is a good thing. There is typically no prior knowledge that a particular matter will be on the agenda, and this was the case for the two planning matters where EastEnders had an interest.

The first of these was a proposal to develop a student accommodation building at 43 Mackenzie St, part of the World Heritage Environs Area. We were curious as to why the City of Melbourne was even asked to consider this matter when it was patently obvious that the application was in breach of the World Heritage laws that were approved by the state government in April 2025. EastEnders is keen to ensure the Royal Exhibition Buildings and Carlton Gardens are protected as a World Heritage site hence our interest in this proposal.

After several submissions, including from EastEnders, FMC recommended that this application be rejected and the reasons were measured, professional and strongly supported by us. The Minister has since approved the development but imposed 41 conditions, many suggested by the City of Melbourne officers. If the conditions are met, then EastEnders would support that outcome.

The second planning application referred to the City of Melbourne by the Minister for Planning related to 222 and 240 Exhibition St, Melbourne, and sought approval for demolition (including partial demolition), construction of a multi-storey mixed-use building comprising office space and a 270-room residential hotel and works to the rear of the Comedy Theatre.

As this proposal had no recent engagement with residents, including several who are directly and significantly impacted by the proposal in Punch Lane, and amid a range of other concerns, threatens the heritage value of the Comedy Theatre, EastEnders submitted that this proposal should be rejected.

This application commenced in May 2022 and continued with four amended plans lodged in December 2022, July 2023, March 2025 and July 2025. There had been no engagement with Punch Lane residents over this period with the developer although there were some discussions years ago with council officers. The latest amended plans were not shared by the City of Melbourne with affected residents and the officer’s recommendations for FMC to approve the project were only known when the agenda was issued five days before the meeting.

At the FMC meeting on December 2, five councillors including the Lord Mayor and the Deputy Lord Mayor declared material conflicts of interest due to having received campaign donations from a related party.

The six remaining councillors received several written submissions, including a detailed way forward proposed by EastEnders, plus two residents gave verbal submissions. As no mention was made of our submission, it is unclear as to whether councillors had even read it.

Despite the detailed concerns raised, the FMC recommended that the permit be approved with 28 attached conditions. EastEnders and the many other parties affected by this proposal feel remarkably let down by our elected representatives and meetings with the Department of Transport and Planning are now being requested.

To be clear, we are not against a development and improving the much-loved Comedy Theatre would be welcomed. However, the development as it is currently proposed simply has too many issues that need resolution, particularly with Punch Lane residents.

The third planning application became known to EastEnders and affected residents when the permit approval was listed on a City of Melbourne site that lists planning decisions. This is an eight-storey development approved at 9-11 Exploration Lane. The permit was approved under delegation by a council officer.

One of the abutting landowners in Little Lonsdale St was unaware of the approved project until advised by EastEnders and because it had not been of sufficient importance, was not submitted to FMC and therefore there was no opportunity to make our views known.

We have since taken the matter up with City of Melbourne with our major concerns being the inconsistency of the decision with established council policies. Obviously, communication with the affected parties is a recurring theme.

The professional response from the senior City of Melbourne officer reframed our concerns as matters of officer discretion, site constraint, and compliance with minimum thresholds. There was little attempt to apply any form of policy reconciliation. This remains a matter for councillors to take up with the CEO and her executive leadership team.

EastEnders acknowledges and appreciates the respect granted to us in our various interactions with the City of Melbourne at all levels. From the Lord Mayor, Deputy Lord Mayor to the planning officers who work assiduously, often under challenging time constraints. 

EastEnders is an active supporter of residents in our CBD and meet usually on the third Tuesday of each month at 10.30am. Even if you cannot regularly attend, you are welcome to become a member at the modest cost of $15 per year. If you would like to join, drop us an email at [email protected] •