Letter from Resident

Dear Sonya,
I am absolutely appalled at your decision to halt development on the Nepean Hwy in Frankston until October, and recommending a height limit to only 3 stories for new buildings.
Aren't you supposed to be the Planning Minister? Aren't you aware of the increase in population predicted to come to Frankston over the next 10 years?
The City of Frankston needs development along the Nepean Hwy to revitalise the Central Business District. I have a degree in Sociology, and it has been proven for decades that to reinvigorate a city, you need residents living in the Central Business District. This is not my opinion. This has been proven around the world in any city you care to mention. And the converse is, if you leave broken windows and empty shops without getting them repaired, you end up with more broken windows, more empty shops, more crime and more vagrants in the area.
This is the state that the Central Business District is in now. I have lived in Frankston for almost 40 years and I have never seen Frankston's CBD in a worse state. The best way to bring Frankston to it's full potential is to build quality, environmentally friendly buildings that people want to live in.
The Horizon Apartment that is near completion in Frankston sold out in one year, with 90% of purchasers being local residents. When these residents move, most will be selling their homes, enabling families to move into Frankston. There is a huge appetite to live in Frankston. Frankston is close to public transport, the beach, medical facilities, shops, restaurants, PARC, The Arts Centre, to name a few of the amenities nearby. We need quality housing in the CBD, and this won't be achieved by building 3 story apartments.
Frankston has so much potential, but the only ones that seem to get listened to are a bunch of nostalgic geriatrics who to want to keep Frankston as they remember it in the 1950's. Frankston is not a sleepy fishing village. Frankston is a City and as a City we need the infrastructure to bring it into the 21st century. We can't do that with a 3 story limit on the Nepean Hwy, right in the middle of our CBD.
There are so many more people in favour of development than the noisy, self-interested minority you have been listening to.
For heaven's sake, have a look around and reverse this decision, or Frankston will turn into a ghetto of unused buildings, more disintegration of the city centre, and completely lost potential for Frankston.
Yours Sincerely,
Diana O'Malley