St Leonards townhouse plan blocked again

VICTORIA’S planning umpire has upheld a Geelong council decision to block a plan to split a 10-bedroom house into five separate units on the edge of St Leonards Wildlife Reserve.

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) knocked back an appeal following the council’s refusal, deciding the proposal was at odds with the character of the surrounding area and existing planning strategies.

The property, at 106 Harvey Road, has two other multi-storey buildings that have been similarly converted into multi-dwelling developments; of four and six residences.

Proponents argued that the existing townhouse complexes, as well as the subject property’s large space at more than five hectares, interspersed native vegetation and location within a kilometre of the middle of St Leonards meant that the new proposal would not cause undue impacts to the surrounding area.

In a decision, VCAT member Shiran Wickramasinghe agreed with the applicant’s submission that the plan fit with the site’s existing character, but that “does not automatically follow the conversion of the existing dwelling into five dwellings is an acceptable outcome”.

Mr Wickramasinghe said the nature of private backyards proposed, which he described as being “tacked onto” each residence, was not an appropriate provision of private open space.

“This results in an unacceptable outcome from a character perspective, with five isolated dwellings with sizeable backyards provided in a location essentially otherwise removed from its surrounds,” he said.

“The resulting built form is one which would be both contrary to the character developed by buildings one and two and the surrounding ‘standard’ residential character.”

Mr Wickramasinghe also raised concerns with the plan’s compliance with provisions regarding accessibility for people with limited mobility, and for each dwelling to have “its own sense of identity”.