City bypasses St Albans covenant

THE City of Greater Geelong has overruled a restrictive covenant applying to St Albans Park properties and approved a two-lot subdivision.

A Decision Making Committee met last week and approved the plan at 31-33 Woods Road to slice the 3,200sqm block.

The property’s rear boundary is about 50 metres from the suburb’s “Phar Lap tree”, which recently won heritage protection following a lengthy community campaign against an ongoing subdivision plan for its property.

Objectors feared that a subdivision could open the floodgates to further higher-density development in the area where land titles have been protected with a covenant that suggests maintaining lifestyle properties.

But the council has recently received legal advice that the covenant is not binding, and supported the subdivision at its behind-closed-doors meeting last week.

“The proposal was considered to be appropriate in the context of the Planning Scheme and a Notice of Decision to grant a Planning Permit, subject to conditions, was issued,” city planning and economy director Gareth Smith said.

“The planning process provides that objectors/submitters to the application can appeal the decision to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal if they wish to do so.”

Objectors to the Woods Road proposal had called for a public meeting to consider the matter in front of the community.