Following Dr Napthine’s formal visit to Governor Alex Chernov on Monday, the campaign for the election kicked off in earnest. Since then, politicians of all hues have been out on the hustings, with a particular focus on seats that are likely to determine the outcome of the election. In August, the National Trust posed a series of questions concerning heritage issues to the leaders of all three major parties. To date, the only response has been from Greg Barber, Parliamentary Leader of the Greens in Victoria, a party which is gaining strength and will play a key role in the outcome of the election. We eagerly anticipate responses from the other parties.

Campaigning this week concerning heritage and urban planning was mainly focused on Labor’s pledge to review the Coalition’s residential zones overhaul, which has been rolled out in 22 of Melbourne’s 31 local government areas. Labor has accused the government of politicising decisions on new zones, with leafy affluent suburbs (and traditional blue-ribbon Liberal strongholds) disproportionately protected in comparison to other areas. For example, the City of Glen Eira has seen 80% of the municipality placed in the Neighbourhood Residential Zone, or “no-go” zone, in contrast to 11% of the City of Darebin. As a result of the backlash against new zoning, the “NIMBY” factor may play an important role in marginal electorates, particularly those along the Frankston train line which have been earmarked for development, such as Bentleigh and Frankston.

There was also some fervent campaigning in central Victoria, with both major parties visiting Bendigo and Ballarat (areas which will be crucial to the outcome of the election) to announce funding commitments. Labor promised $25m for the redevelopment of the Ballarat Railway Station which is the subject of a recently adopted masterplan developed by the City of Ballarat, the Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure, Regional Development Victoria, Public Transport Victoria and VicTrack. The project has previously received a commitment of $5.3 from the Coalition, and would see the transformation of a significant heritage precinct.

However it was the hours before the election was officially called which have been of most interest this week, with the revelation that the Government quietly rushed through a 50-year lease for a luxury resort at Point Nepean National Park, an issue which was recently the subject of an extensive National Trust submission. It is understood that the lease was signed early this week, with a notification on the Department of Environment and Primary Industry’s first garnering attention Wednesday, the day after the government had gone into caretaker mode. It is hard to imagine why, if it was sound, a deal concerning the future of one of Victoria’s most prominent and significant heritage assets would have been rushed through without fanfare or even the requisite photo op. Also of concern is the fact that the lease is conditional on geothermal investigations to confirm the presence of hot springs at the site, which raises questions about why the lease was signed before these investigations were conducted, since they are critical to the business case. Ultimately, there appears to be little certainty for the long-term future of the site, with no detail having been provided about a contingency for the failure of the resort proposal, which could potentially come at great cost to the taxpayer and the integrity of the site.

On the whole, the election campaign so far has lacked a coherent vision for the state’s future from any of the major parties, particularly in regard to the built and natural environment. The East West Link, residential zoning decisions and Point Nepean Contract, perhaps hastily entered into by the government, will prove challenging for both the incumbents and their opposition, and are contributing to a climate of great uncertainty for residents and developers alike.