A group of three senior advisers to Planning Minister Richard Wynne has now handed down its initial report on how the racing club might go about getting the land rezoned. An artist's impression of the three towers planned next to Flemington Racecourse grandstand (at bottom) and a new 31-level tower (at top left) proposed for Epsom Road. The group's report, released last week, is Planning Panels Victoria's response to the application from the racing club, launched in 2014, to rezone the land. Combined, the towers the club wants to see built would bring an additional 2150 new residents to the area. The proposal was put before previous planning minister Matthew Guy who was asked to sign off on the plans without any public consultation or exhibition. He did not approve the development.

The Victorian Government Architect was asked to comment on plans put forward by the racing club and developer Greenland. The three proposed apartment towers next to Flemington Racecourse railway station, on land in Ascot Vale. The plans contain no dedicated affordable housing – something the government architect said was "unconvincing". They also said plans for the project were "neither convincingly explored nor realised" and that designs for some buildings and how they fitted into the landscape were "unsophisticated". An artist's impression of the planned Epsom Road apartment tower at Flemington Racecourse.

And the government's advisory panel – made up of planning experts Kathy Mitchell, Des Grogan and Jim Holdsworth – expressed concern over the density and proposed heights of the towers on each of the two sites. There are also concerns among locals about the impact of the proposed "Flemington Green" development on the existing road network because of the additional traffic it will generate. The Age revealed last week that thousands of new residents in the proposed apartment towers would not get a train service, at the direction of the Andrews government's public transport bureaucrats. Public Transport Victoria and the state transport department rejected outright the idea of using Flemington Racecourse railway station for commuter services. Peter Burke from the Ascot Vale Residents Action Group said locals were appalled at the lack of transparency on the project to date, and at plans for the land to be rezoned as a Comprehensive Development Zone that would make Mr Wynne the authority in charge of the site. "On the face of it, the Labor government appears to be just waving this through," Mr Burke said. "Where is the community consultation, and where is the community input?"

Victoria Racing Club chief executive Simon Love told Fairfax Media last week it would put its plans for the project on public exhibition early next year.