While Council normally holds a planning committee meeting on the fourth Wednesday, tonight’s meeting included several other items including the next stage of the land sale in Balaclava to support a redevelopment of Coles and an update on Council decisions made between 1 April and 30 June 2025.

Carlislie Street

The development of Coles in Carlislie Street has been proposed for a while but required Council to strengthen its approach to deliver improved community outcomes. Tonight’s meeting confirmed this strengthened approach through a Memorandum of Understanding and Section 173 agreement embedding community engagement, affordable housing requirements and advanced notification of the submitted plans.

The redevelopment of Coles has parallels to the Eastland redevelopment in Ringwood, where there was a need to embed community engagement to guide the vision for Ringwood. I was fortunate to draw on this experience when considering Balaclava and the safeguards it required.

Status of Council decisions made between 1 April and 30 June 2025

This agenda item is a feature of good governance and provides an update on decisions made by Council, as questions raised during meetings.

This evening, I sought an update on several advocacy items for Fishermans Bend, including the need to follow up on correspondence to the Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts.

I also queried the status of new signage for dog off-leash areas, where I received a response that the new signage will be installed by the end of the year. I also followed up on the community input required to help inform dog waste bags across Port Phillip, I was advised that the input will commence towards the end of October.

Agenda and minutes of the Port Phillip Council meetings are available at Meetings and Agendas – City of Port Phillip