Newsletter October 2025

In this newsletter:

  • SRL Hearings Now Underway

  • Closure of Bay Road Service Station

  • Sir William Fry Reserve SRLA Submission

  • BCC Open Space Strategy

  • Highett Bayside Traffic Issues and Actions

  • Highett Common Status

  • Highett Grassy Woodland Access

  • HPA Fundraiser – Bunnings BBQ November 16

  • Connecting with the HPA

Annual General Meeting

The second HPA AGM is coming soon, on Wednesday October 29. Please Save the Date:

Highett Neighbourhood Community House, 2 Livingston St, Highett.

  • 6:40pm registration and light refreshments.

  • 7:00pm AGM followed by a Community Forum.

We will be joined by Cr Georgia Erevnidis from Wattle Ward (Kingston) and Cr Andrew

Hockley from Ivison Ward (Bayside). Come hear their thoughts and share your issues.

We are seeking new faces to join the HPA Committee. If interested in becoming part of a

positive change for Highett, email highettprogress@yahoo.com or message us

via Facebook. If perhaps interested but not quite sure, please contact us for a chat ahead of

the AGM. We also want to meet those who may like to be involved in a limited way or only

on specific issues without formally joining the Committee.

All community members are welcome at the AGM, to hear about HPA activities over the past

year and to join the discussion on issues and priorities. We would appreciate your RSVP in

advance (via Facebook Messenger, email or notification to a committee member) to have a

rough number for catering.

Anyone wishing to vote during the AGM or nominate for the Committee MUST be an HPA

member, according to Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) rules. Most people on our newsletter

mailing list are NOT formal members. The difference is that CAV requires the member

register to include a home or business address which is not necessary for the mailing list.

You are welcome either to become a voting member of HPA, or to simply remain on the

mailing list. To be recognised as a voting member at the AGM, please complete this

membership application, including your address, BEFORE Sunday October 19, ten days prior

to the meeting. Under CAV Rules, members must acknowledge acceptance of the HPA Rules

which you can review here. A formal meeting agenda and 2024-25 report will be sent out

separately to all registered members ahead of the AGM.

SRL Hearings Now Underway

The Suburban Rail Loop Authority (SRLA) plans including rezoning and major densification of the Cheltenham Precinct (Pennydale, most of Highett and part of Cheltenham) are to be gazetted next year. The FINAL public review is now underway before the Standing Advisory Committee (SAC). The first 17 days of General Issues hearings concluded on September 26. The hearings on the six individual station precincts began last week, with Cheltenham scheduled from November 17 to December 19. Both Bayside and Kingston Councils have engaged barristers and are calling on a series of subject matter experts. The HPA is among community groups and individuals scheduled to appear on November 17-18.

You can read the HPA April submission to the SRLA which will form the basis of our argument to the SAC. Our main themes include green environment and open space, planning for community facilities and traffic management and safety. We welcome any comments on these issues in the next few weeks to finalise our next submission.

Closure of Bay Road Service Station

The HPA submission to the SRLA on proposed replacement space for Sir William Fry Reserve was lodged at the beginning of September. Our major themes included:

• The inadequate size, shape and sunlight quality of proposed new space.

• More east-west connections to the future cycle/pedestrian corridor.

• The need for fencing around the off leash dog park.

• Facilities designed to allow for future population projections and needs.

• Preservation of the tree canopy.

• The desirability of another round of public consultation with wider communication.

Bayside Council Open Space Strategy

In late August, the HPA also lodged a submission to BCC on its future Open Space strategy

(BOSS). The revised BOSS is to be presented next week at the October Council meeting. We

hope to see some of our recommendations including:

• Sites in Highett for new open space.

• Funds from the open space fund to acquire such land.

• A time frame for the acquisition of new land.

• A Public Open Space Committee.

• Greater transparency around allocations from the Open Space fund.

• Community engagement in delivering future open spaces, including those from Developer Contributions

• Funding a masterplan for the Highett Bowls Club and Lyle Anderson Reserve precinct.

Highett Bayside Traffic Issues and Actions

An updated traffic study was requested by the HPA and then committed by BCC in mid

2024. Last September’s HPA AGM discussed specific issues in Bay Road, Highett Road and

near the Wickham Road roundabout. Various traffic issues including Bay/Graham Road

lights, a pedestrian crossing near Aldi and the protruding gutter hazard at Highland Avenue

have subsequently been followed up with Council, and also with the Department of

Transport and Planning through MPs Brad Rowswell and Ryan Batchelor.

BCC’s late 2024 traffic study identified locations to improve traffic and pedestrian safety.

The HPA Committee met with Council Officers to agree the scope and to then review

results. The first outcome was the installation of the pedestrian crossing on Wickham Road,

with a Supervisor from August during school hours.

Other black spots remain under review and Council has applied for Government funding to

address several issues from the traffic study. We are hopeful of additional initiatives being

confirmed this year.

Highett Common Status

The August newsletter from Sunkin, the developer of Highett Common, advised that buyers

of units in the first two of the 15 apartment buildings on the former CSIRO site should settle

in November and potentially take occupancy before the end of the year.

Bayside Council’s September meeting adopted the HPA recommendation to name the new

public park ‘Highett Village Green’. Although welcoming any incremental public space within

Highett, the HPA remains concerned that the design and execution of the park appears of a

lower standard than those funded by the Council in recent years across the municipality.

Responding to HPA and community questions at its September meeting, BCC advised:

  • The access to Middleton Street would revert to a one lane exit in compliance with the planning permit. This appears to have now been completed.

  • The park drainage is to be rectified before public access and BCC hopes the grass can be sufficiently established during the Spring growing season.

  • Despite public concerns over the children’s playground being within a few metres of Graham Rd, the original design did not provide gates and Council does not generally support fencing around playgrounds.

Highett Grassy Woodland Access

While the Master Plan for the Highett Grassy Woodland (HGW) is now 18 months into the first two years of the action plan, the HPA remains concerned about the degree and timing of access for the local community. Our questions to the BCC September Council meeting provided both good and bad news:

• Good - It is anticipated that a preliminary pedestrian path network within HGW will be in place by late November 2025. Should the Middleton Street entrance become available Council will be able to allow some community access to HGW, possibly from November.

• Bad - The pedestrian access to HGW from Bay Rd as included in the Master Plan in early 2024 now appears unlikely. The Owners Corporation (OC) of the commercial complex at 337 Bay Road, Cheltenham, lodged objections during the original consultation, based on security concerns. The OC continues to oppose any attempt from Council to secure a linkage or negotiate any solution with Council.

HPA Fundraiser – Bunnings BBQ November 16

The HPA Committee will again be wielding the tongs at Bunnings Mentone on Sunday November 16 to raise funds for next year’s Association overheads and to support additional activities including community forums.

If anyone would like to donate supplies or a couple of hours of your time on November 16, please reach out. To everyone else, please drop by, say hello and enjoy a sausage.