A misunderstood email and a four-day delay: 900-house development goes ahead due to council error

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A controversial 900-house development in Melbourne’s south-east will go ahead, after the local council missed the deadline to lodge the paperwork to block it by just four days.

Kingston City Council narrowly missed the deadline to appeal the redevelopment of the former Kingswood Golf Course with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) in November.

Save Kingswood Group president Kevin Poulter at the former Kingswood Golf Course in Dingley Village.

The 52-hectare site in Dingley Village is being redeveloped by Satterley Property Group, founded by Perth property mogul Nigel Satterley.

It will comprise an estimated 941 residential lots and provide housing to a potential 2000 people. The south-eastern suburb has a population of about 10,000, according to 2021 census data.

Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny approved the development on October 13. This gave the council until November 10 to lodge any objection to the decision, as per the 28-day timeframe set out in planning legislation.

But a courtesy email notifying Kingston City Council of the decision was sent four days after approval. Council officers incorrectly understood October 17 to be the date of approval, according to VCAT documents.

An appeal application was lodged by the council on November 14 – four days after the prescribed deadline – and ultimately rejected by the tribunal.

Senior VCAT member Geoffrey Code found that Kingston Council had made a mistake in calculating the deadline, and refused to grant a time extension at a December 19 VCAT hearing.

Kingston council was contacted for comment.

Development at the site has faced years of objection from both the council and nearby residents

The former Kingswood Golf Course in Dingley Village.

At a November 10 Kingston council meeting, councillor Caroline White said that allowing the development to proceed would “annihilate” the local community and called for the plans to be scrapped.

“[It will] create absolute chaos in a suburb that’s not designed to manage this type of growth,” White said at the meeting. “It would cost the minister nothing to do the right thing.”

Save Kingswood group president Kevin Poulter called the project “the worst development ever proposed for Victoria.”

Poulter, who has been fighting the proposed redevelopment for 13 years, was critical of the state government’s decision. He said his residents group will continue to oppose the project.

“We put out a list of about 50 reasons about why it shouldn’t be built there … there’s still some fight left in us yet,” he said.

The former golf course was bought in 2014 for more than $100 million by superannuation giant AustralianSuper.

An initial attempt to develop the site into housing in 2018 attracted 8000 public objections and was rejected by Kingston council.

Decision-making authority was taken from the council and handed to the state government, which has since faced criticism for its long delays in deciding the future of the project.

AustralianSuper eventually sold the site in 2024 to Satterley Property Group without ever having begun construction. The land is currently used as a public park.

A Victorian government spokesperson said the Dingley Village plans had undergone consultation with local residents and Kingston council, as well as other stakeholders.

“Information on the development plan, including the approval date, was made publicly available online,” the spokesperson said.

“We’re unlocking underutilised land to deliver more homes and create new opportunities for people in Melbourne’s south-east.”

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