Baw Baw Shire opposes 45-unit social housing development despite 356 people on waitlist

Baw Baw Shire councillors have voted to oppose a 45-unit social housing project in Drouin over fears the development will risk heritage-listed trees and cause parking problems.

The council’s opposition to the development comes as community groups are calling for a desperate need to increase social and affordable housing in the region.

What happened: At a Baw Baw Shire council meeting in December last year, councillors unanimously voted to oppose the state government's proposed 45-unit social housing development at 2-6 Lampard Road, Drouin.

The submission cited threats to heritage-listed English elms and inadequate parking.

Who proposed the developments? 

Social housing developments in Victoria are proposed by Homes Victoria (a government entity) and are then greenlit by the Department of Transport and Planning.

• Application for the Drouin development was received by the department on the 22nd of October. A final decision on the proposal is yet to be made.

Support social housing, just not like this

🗣️ Councillor Ben Lucas, who said he grew up in public housing, moved a motion strengthening the council's opposition, saying: "I do support social housing, but not in the size, shape and scale that it's in at the moment."

• “These are heritage listed trees, very important to the characteristics of our community,” Lucas said.

• Lucas also pointed out the proposal would only provide 27 car parks for the 45-unit site. 

“This many people living in this spot is absolutely going to add to the congestion issues we’ve got on Main South Road,” Lucas said.

The need for social housing in Gippsland

Gippsland Homelessness Network co-ordinator, Chris McNamara, told the Monitor: “There’s a desperate need for social and affordable housing. Drouin’s in desperate need for anything to give people shelter.”

• Drouin has 356 people on priority housing waitlists as of March 2025, according to statistics from the Gippsland Homelessness Network.

🗣️“These are people who are most in need, people who are escaping family violence, people with disabilities, health issues or people who are escaping disasters,” McNamara said.

What is the priority waitlist? There were 7,520 people in Gippsland on the priority waitlist as of March 2025. McNamara said it’s very likely that number has grown.

Gippsland Homelessness Network statistics show there were 118 people who accessed the homelessness entry point in Warragul in 2024-25, McNamara said the org estimated there are twice as many people out there not using the entry points.

• Homelessness entry points connect people suffering from homelessness to the services and resources they need, often by getting them on housing waitlists.

Council’s concerns

Baw Baw Shire Mayor Kate Wilson told the Monitor it’s clear the area needs more social and affordable housing but would like the Victorian government to cooperate with local councils earlier in the development process.

“The proposal in its current state is going to significantly encroach on the canopy and in the root base of the trees,” Wilson said. “We've got policies in place to protect [the trees] right across the Shire and we think this development should follow those policies.”

The council will seek a redesign of the development that will avoid harming the significant elm trees.