VCAT blocks proposed beachside penthouse

A TORQUAY developer has failed in its bid to add a fourth-storey penthouse to a planned retail and apartment building on The Esplanade.

Luso applied to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) to amend a permit issued in 2019 for an approved three-storey building at the foreshore site just south of Zeally Bay Road.

The Surf Coast Shire council, local advocacy group 3228 Residents Association and property owner of the next-door restaurant and cafe Sylview all opposed the proposed amendment due to concerns about the building height.

VCAT senior member Rachel Naylor refused the proposed fourth storey in a decision handed down last week, indicating the plan was “not an acceptable design response”, and would fail to achieve casual and relaxed design objectives for the area.

3228 Residents Association secretary Sue O’Shanassy said her organisation opposed the plan because it felt the fourth story was inappropriate for the area, and feared an approval could open the floodgates for further higher-rise developments in the area.

“The main reason (we opposed the plan) it didn’t fit the provision or the intent of the Surf Coast planning scheme,” Ms O’Shanassy said.

“The Esplanade is a very special area in terms of its access to the public domain all along there.

“(The building) would have really stood out as being oversized compared with what’s there currently.”

The tribunal approved minor changes to the building’s basement layout and car parking.

Luso had previously proposed a four-storey development earlier in the planning process but revised its plan for the building to three storeys for the approved application.

The existing permit allows for development of one shop, one food and drink premises and eight dwellings at the 752sqm beach-facing site.

Luso has until April next year to begin construction before its permit expires.