If you walk down Emerald Street in South Melbourne, you could easily miss the apartment building at number 15.
The two-storey complex sits between terrace and townhouses and a church, with leafy trees and pot plants dotted across its front yard.
But this unassuming apartment block is the latest site in Melbourne where a social housing developer and neighbours are at loggerheads because of a contentious new Victorian planning process.
The Victorian Big Build Scheme aims to support thousands of social housing dwellings being built quickly.
But the Victorian government is assessing these developments under an alternative planning process that its critics describe as using a "Big Brother" approach and being "anti-democratic".
Here on Emerald Street, the building's owner, South Port Community Housing Group, hopes to transform its 50-year-old social housing building into modern new units for its residents.
Its chief executive Charlie Beckley said the difference would be significant for those who lived at number 15.
He hopes the new building will provide better apartments for more people in need of affordable housing.
"Our design is for 41 apartments so there is a net increase of 10 apartments," Mr Beckley said.
"Ten more homes for people over 55 who have experienced things like homelessness.
"We have two fully disability-compliant units and six that will meet accessibility requirements.
"They will be all electric, no gas, with 50 solar panels to support that. There will be private balconies, increased storage space and a communal garden area."
The building will also be much larger – which is at the heart of the tension with the other residents on the street.
Mr Beckley said the larger size was needed to expand the living space of the small existing units.
And he said with more than 7,000 people seeking affordable housing in South Melbourne there was a need to create more apartments.
"So to increase the amount of yield on the site and improve amenity value for tenants, for renters."
Alterative planning process upsets residents
The proposed new building will be assessed for a planning permit by the Victorian Land and Environment Minister Lily D'Ambrosio, instead of the local council, under the Victorian Big Build Scheme.
Ms D'Ambrosio will have the final say – with neighbours unable to appeal her decision.
In a statement, a government spokesperson said the new planning processes would "get people into social housing nine to 15 months sooner than the standard process".
The government said "the views of affected neighbours, councils and other stakeholders will be considered as part of the planning process".
This same planning process has angered neighbours of other social housing developments in Hawthorn and North Melbourne, who say they have been excluded.
Mr Beckley said his organisation had been in discussions with neighbours on Emerald Street and it had made changes to the building design.
But some neighbours are not happy with the overall size of the development.
Ashley Admiraal lives on Emerald Street and works in property development.
He is adamant he and other neighbours support ongoing social housing on their street and the redevelopment of number 15.
He said he had even supported the alternative planning process because "an important public policy outcome is being sought here, to provide additional housing for vulnerable people".
But he said many residents had a problem with the "size and bulk" of the proposed development and the way in which it was being assessed.
"The height is 10 metres, which is what the planning scheme allows for, and that is flush up with the front boundary," he explained.
But he said under the Big Build Scheme, neighbourhood character was not being considered the way it would be through a council planning process.
"The design requirements for these buildings are lower than would otherwise apply for apartment buildings," he said.
Mr Admiraal was not the only person to raise concerns about how planning approvals were being considered for social housing developments.
Municipal Association of Victoria president David Clark said he believed community consultation was under threat by the Victorian government's use of this alternative planning process.
He said the MAV supported the state's plan to increase social housing.
"An extra three months in planning to involve the local community can often avert a 50-year eyesore."
