Keyton wins Mt Martha plan: 32 villas replace 108-room aged care

Mornington Peninsula Shire has approved amended plans for the Martha’s Point Retirement Village in Mt Martha, replacing an approved 108-room aged care facility with 32 single-storey independent living units. For Victorian retirement-village developers, it shows a council will accept a lower-density permit amendment even when 61 neighbours object.

Councillors decided the matter at the 29 September 2026 meeting. Cr David Gill voted against, according to Mornington News. Keyton, a retirement village developer, was named as applicant and landowner on this site in an earlier Mornington News report. The latest report does not name the applicant.

Why it matters

The site covers 165 Osbourne Drive and 594 and 602 Esplanade. The existing permit allows a two-storey, 108-room residential aged care facility. The amendment swaps that for 32 single-storey units and a communal building with a cinema, lounge, activity space and barbecue area.

Cr Patrick Binyon said building height falls from about nine metres to about four metres. The approved vehicle access is replaced by a pedestrian walkway to the Esplanade and foreshore.

The decision turned partly on the fallback. Cr Paul Pingiaro told the meeting that refusal would not stop development, because the earlier permit remains. In his words, “If council refuses this amendment, it doesn’t necessarily result in the site remaining undeveloped.”

Cr Binyon put weight on social connection for village residents. That case sat alongside the planning argument, and shows a council weighing resident support against neighbour objections.

For operators, that is the practical lesson. A live permit for a larger scheme can strengthen the case for a smaller replacement, because the responsible authority has to compare the amendment with what can already be built.

The numbers

The amendment removes 0.252 ha of native vegetation, which the report says is less than the original plan. The permit holder must secure a native vegetation offset and inspect the vegetation for fauna before removal.

Council received 61 community objections. Cr Pingiaro said 83 per cent of residents at the existing village supported the revised plan. The April report described the villas as one, two and three bedroom.

No construction cost was reported, and we have not sourced one. We have also not found the council officer report, so the figures above rest on the Mornington News account of the meeting.

What’s next

The approval changes the commercial picture for the site. A single-storey independent living product has a different sales path from a staffed 108-room care facility, and it avoids the operating licence and staffing demands that come with residential aged care. We have not seen Keyton’s delivery plan, so timing and staging remain unreported.

Objectors have 28 days to appeal the decision to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). The report does not give an end date, and we have not calculated one. Until that window closes without an appeal, the amended permit carries tribunal risk.

If no appeal is lodged, Keyton can move to its native vegetation offset and the fauna inspection before clearing. A VCAT hearing would add months to the programme and test the same fallback argument the councillors relied on.

More Victorian planning decisions are tracked in our Melbourne coverage.