From pretty to pretty vacant
One kilometre inland from the beach,at the eastern end of the CBD,dreams of luxe Frankston living seem distant indeed.
The suburb’s glinting white train station has been rebuilt following an architectural competition. Young Street has had a facelift,with palm trees planted in its median,but the revamp hasn’t brightened the street scene opposite the station.
Shops – those that are not vacant – are a mix of pawnbrokers,fast food outlets and discount stores. People linger,but few are buying.
A man sits on the footpath,cigarette butt in one hand,talking to himself. A woman stands outside the 7/11 entrance,begging. Another has nodded off on a bench,her chin slumped against her chest.
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A man asks me,beneath his breath,if I’m chasing heroin. Shirtless young men stand on street corners,periodically walking down the area’s laneways towards Bayside Shopping Centre,where five uniformed security guards stand watch.
The network of laneways between the station and the shopping centre has been spruced up by council,with street art murals and a bluestone walk celebrating Frankston’s hall of fame inductees.
Here,among the charity stores and pawnbrokers offering unsecured loans,green shoots of new commerce have begun to sprout,including a craft boutique,a bubble tea store and a smartly furnished cafe.
Laughing Lark cafe owner Lisa Pay was lured to the area by the promise that a number of other businesses would open nearby at the same time,but says that fell over. Her cafe still faces a row of vacant shops.
“The whole of Frankston is vacant,” she says.
Pay would like to see those empty shops pulled down and replaced by apartments.
“It would bring life to all the businesses that are here,and hopefully new businesses would open. It’s such a gorgeous area,I feel like we’re wasting it,” she says.
Inside a Young Street discount store,Gopalakrishnan Neelakandan stands behind the counter,guarding the goods from shoplifters. He emigrated from Chennai to Melbourne last year with his wife,who is a nurse at Frankston Hospital.
They are looking for a home in Frankston,but the search is difficult,he says. For now,they have settled in Cranbourne East,about 30 kilometres away.
The push for urban renewal in Frankston
Statistically,Frankston is slightly older and poorer and significantly less multicultural than most other municipalities in Melbourne.
“Frankston is a little bit like Geelong,but 15 years behind,” Edbrooke says.
Melbourne’s story in the 21st century has been one of rapid population growth and increasing cultural diversity. Between 2001 and 2021,the city’s population swelled by 1.6 million people to 4.91 million,and the proportion of overseas-born residents grew from 28 per cent to 40 per cent,census data shows.
But the City of Frankston has had little part to play in this tale. Its population grew by just 30,000,while the proportion of overseas-born residents rose modestly,from 21 per cent to 26 per cent.
Yet Frankston has a housing shortage,despite its sluggish growth rate.
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Analysis for the council found that just 4 per cent of rental properties in the local government area are classified as affordable for low-income earners.
The streets are still dominated by large,detached houses,with few options for small households,such as villa units,townhouses and apartments.
“If no changes are made to the balance of dwelling sizes over the next 15 years,it is likely that the dwelling needs of the future community will not be met,” the council warns in its draft housing strategy,which is due to be finalised late this year.
The strategy hopes to address the shortage primarily by building up in the CBD,which currently has a low number of apartments.
At its next meeting,Frankston council will move forward on its plan to more than double the bayside suburb’s population in the next 15 years,with an aim to build at least 9000 new homes and transform the mostly low-rise city centre into a bayside Box Hill.
The new “structure plan” for central Frankston reimagines the underdeveloped heart of the suburb,between the station and the beach,as one of Melbourne’s major urban centres,brought to life with new apartment buildings and townhouses,as well as thriving retail and office spaces.
Preferred building heights in the precinct would vary from three to 16 storeys,depending on location,the council plans show.
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On this vision,the council and the state government are in unison. The Allan government in September designated Frankston as one of 10 priority hubs for housing intensification,where it aims to build a total 60,000 homes in the next decade.
This month,the Victorian Planning Authority announced it has begun to scope out the Frankston Activity Centre for more housing.
The authority and the Department of Transport and Planning are reviewing building heights and design rules for the area “to allow for more high-quality and affordable homes to be built in the neighbourhood”,the authority said.
“We’re introducing clear new rules so that more high-quality homes can be built in Frankston,close to all the services,jobs and transport it has to offer.”
The state government is moving to assume planning controls for Frankston by the end of 2024,and the council voted narrowly to approve its own structure plan for central Frankston in June.
Conroy – who took leave from his mayoral position this week to campaign in the byelection,and declinedThe Age’s interview request – was among five councillors who voted for the planning scheme amendment,including its preferred 12-storey height limits between Nepean Highway and Kananook Creek.
Conroy has called the planning amendment the “biggest thing to happen to Frankston in 20 years”,arguing it will give developers clear direction on land use and building design and “provide better connection to our prized assets of Kananook Creek and the waterfront”.
Three councillors voted against the amendment and one abstained.
Councillor Claire Harvey,the solitary abstainer in the vote,said she was concerned that the Pace and Harbour developments could undermine efforts to renew the rest of the city centre.
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“It could disincentivise building where it’s more suitable,which is closer to the station and on the other side of Nepean Highway,” she said.
“People don’t want to lose their views … once higher buildings go up in that precinct,it becomes less appealing for every other developer to build in our actual city centre.”
One kilometre south along the beach from Long Island,past the dunes and the colourful beach boxes,Langwarrin couple Daniel and Lisa Korsak are stretched out on beach towels,relaxing in the blazing sun.
They bought into the area 10 years ago because the housing was affordable.
The pair have followedthe debate about Frankston’s “great wall”,and believe the waterfront high-rises would give their city the shot in the arm it needs.
“We’re not nimbys,we’re yimbys,” Daniel says. “All the services are here:you’ve got the university,TAFE,the train station and shopping centre,but a lot of the businesses here,they tend to struggle.
“Having more residents living within the CBD will support a better economy ... You live in an urban area,you can’t expect things to stay the same.”
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