Mounting opposition to Melbourne’s high-rise retirement village
- Aisha Dow
Most people wouldn’t be too worried about having a retirement village next door, after all nursing homes tend to attract a type of neighbour unlikely to be the instigator of raging parties or burnouts.
But a unique proposal in the municipality of Glen Eira has many residents up in arms for a very particular reason. The new retirement facility would be 19 storeys.
The proposal is to redevelop the low-rise Calvary Health Care Bethlehem hospital in Caulfield South into a $73 million precinct including retirement village, aged care home and childcare centre.
A “loophole” in the planning law means the owners of the Kooyong Road facility could sidestep a strict eight-metre height limit, angering hundreds of local residents.
“We are not against the site being developed. It’s a very ugly building,” said Bethlehem Hospital Community Action Group spokesman Kelvin Cope.
Calvary Health Care’s national development manager Angus Bradley said the proposed redevelopment would be a place where the ageing and elderly could stay in their homes for longer, and couples remain together.
The new precinct would see 85 two and three-bedroom “independent” units with shared gym, art room and library. Those needing more living assistance could relocate into the aged care home with 80 beds. And there would be a hospital specialising in palliative care and neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s.
“What is really important to us is that we are catering for the needs of the people of Glen Eira and surrounds for the medium and long term … so they don’t have to leave the place they may have lived in for 15 to 20 years,” Mr Bradley said.
But the proposal is facing fierce opposition from the community. Almost 300 people have officially opposed the application, with just eight in support.
Eight-year-old Finn Clarke is one those who have submitted an objection, writing he was worried that people in the planned tower could see him swimming in his backyard pool. His family lives near the hospital.
“Don’t build the tower here. Build it in the city where it belongs,” he wrote. Finn’s mother Melissa Monks described the proposal as “monstrous”.
“While the proposal may include underground car parking, like is the reality today, many staff and visitors will continue to try to park in the surrounding suburban streets, subjecting neighbours to gridlock, increased safety risks and increased noise,” she said.
Glen Eira councillors are scheduled to vote on the proposal on February 28 – but the council has already raised its concerns in a submission to the state government. It said current planning rules meant the area’s two-storey height did not apply to buildings defined “non-residential”, including independent living units and retirement villages. The council said this should change.
“It is considered that all buildings should be required to meet the mandatory maximum height limit in order to ensure that the neighbourhood character of residential areas is maintained.”
A spokesman for Planning Minister Richard Wynne said Glen Eira could still exercise its discretion and decide whether the proposal was appropriate for the area.
“This is an important matter for Caulfield South residents and it’s important the Glen Eira City Council gets it right,” he said.
Glen Eira Debates 
February 20, 2017 at 3:19 PM
The dominant proposed use of the tower is a residential building containing multiple dwellings. It cannot be considered exempt from the height limit unless somebody is behaving unethically. As a reminder, several of these terms are defined in the Planning Scheme. “Residential Building” includes “Residential Aged Care Facility”. “Dwelling” is a building used as a self-contained residence which must contain (a) a kitchen sink; (b) food preparation facilities; (c) a bath or shower; and (d) a closet pan and wash basin. In the applicant’s submission it admits “the proposed Independent Living Units are able to be lived in like a home and are fully self-contained”. The plans show all 4 elements of a dwelling are present.
Somebody at Council [and State Government] should explain why they think this development is exempt from the height limit that applies to residential development in Neighbourhood Residential Zone [NRZ] rather than dodge the issue. I have no confidence that decision-makers will behave ethically, and that’s why the public needs to be vigilant and call out all the bullshit we are fed daily. For additional bullshit, read the Explanatory Reports Council has published in support of Amendments C143 and C146.
February 20, 2017 at 10:46 PM
Calvary Health Care is expanding like crazy by ‘value capturing’ their sites all around the country. See their plans in Adelaide for a 12 storey facility.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/business/calvary-will-consolidate-three-facilities-into-the-cbd-as-part-of-a-250m-plan-to-build-states-biggest-private-hospital/news-story/164b681db6736b8accf6797a58833f9c
February 21, 2017 at 5:07 PM
Off-topic: State Government has revealed it will not go with a SkyRail solution for the politically-sensitive Frankston line, no surprises there. Meanwhile back along the Caulfield-Dandenong rail corridor, LXRA has now documented that the rail decking has a width of 6.6m so 4 tracks cannot fit in a 20m corridor. I never believed Steve Dimopoulos or LXRA in the first place but they persisted with their bullshit. A future government will either have to redo all the infrastructure, or more likely compulsorily acquire property. Little wonder they have never published diagrams showing 4 tracks in place. Incompetent or corrupt, hard to tell which.
February 21, 2017 at 9:59 PM
Dimopoulos is trying to limit the political damage. His margin is not that great.