Kathy doesn’t want towers near her Malvern home of 53 years
Kathy Marinis must decide whether to sell her Malvern home of 53 years or stay as six-storey apartments rise around it. Her street is among 60 Victorian neighborhoods targeted for denser housing, a plan the Coalition says it will scrap if elected this month.
Grandmother Kathy Marinis, 53 years in the same Malvern house, faces a choice she never expected. Kathy doesn’t want towers beside her home, but developers are eyeing properties on her street in Melbourne’s inner south-east.
She can sell her “forever home” with no guarantee she can afford a similar one nearby. Or she can stay and likely be surrounded by tall apartment blocks.
“It’s a very stressful decision and honestly, I have lost a lot of sleep over it,” Marinis said. “But I am also open and embrace change.”
A street rezoned for six storeys
Marinis says she is not against progress. She knows the suburb is unaffordable for many families and that more homes are needed near public transport. Her single-storey weatherboard house cannot be compulsorily acquired.
Malvern is a Train and Tram Zone Activity Centre. It is one of 60 neighborhoods the Victorian government has earmarked for more development under a planning overhaul. The aim is room for 300,000 more homes near public transport by 2051, when the state’s population is expected to reach 10.3 million.
The government stripped councils of many planning powers, including setting preferred height limits and deciding where high-rises go. It ruled that too many inner-city areas had been “locked up”, which stopped housing growth.
In many residential streets, height limits of two to three storeys have been replaced with six-storey limits. One of the first proposals possible under the changes is a six-storey apartment building of two- and three-bedroom units, about 500 metres from the Malvern and Armadale activity centres.
Councils and voters push back
The plans have prompted backlash from councils, including the City of Stonnington. One in four of the activity centres sit in the council area, with one in Malvern and three clustered around Chapel Street.
The Coalition has vowed to scrap the program if elected later this month. It would return planning controls to councils and communities, and expand Melbourne’s Capital City Zone beyond the CBD to accommodate more high-rise housing.
The issue is front of mind for Malvern voters. The seat is changing hands for the first time in 20 years because former Liberal leader Michael O’Brien is retiring. Liberal candidate Amelia Hamer is fighting to hold it, and Peter Martin is Labor’s candidate.
The vision for South Yarra, Prahran and Windsor is dividing residents in the marginal seat of Prahran. Liberal Rachel Westaway won it by 1.3 per cent in a 2025 byelection. The coming race is shaping up as a three-way contest with Greens candidate Angelica Di Camillo and Labor’s Meghan Hopper. Shaun Virsu is the One Nation candidate.
In much of South Yarra, Prahran and Windsor, earlier council limits of up to 23 storeys still apply.
