VCAT has handed down a decision for 411-15 Glen Huntly Road Elsternwick. The permit will allow:
- Demolition of existing building at 415 Glen Huntly Road on land affected by Heritage Overlay;
- Partial demolition of buildings at 411 and 413 Glen Huntly Road on land affected by Heritage Overlay;
- Construction of an Eight Storey building with basements, comprising 37 dwellings and 2 shops on land within a Commercial 1 Zone and affected by Heritage Overlay;
- Reduction of the standard car parking requirements associated with a shop, residential car parking and residential visitor car parking in accordance with Clause 52.06; and
- Waiver of the requirement for a loading bay in accordance with Clause 52.07
There was an earlier VCAT decision in July 2015 which refused a 6 storey dwelling because of poor ‘internal amenity’. The developer returned with an application for 8 storeys and an increase in dwellings on a site of 649 square metres. The earlier 2015 decision saw no problems with height nor impacts on ‘heritage’.
Thus council has had 2 years since this previous decision to shore up its Heritage policy – and remember this policy dates back to 2003. Thus we have another example of council (and long serving councillors) sitting on their hands for 14 years whilst the horse has well and truly bolted. Admittedly Council moved in March 2017 to ‘update’ its policy – but this was only to include the ‘update’ from years ago as a ‘reference document’ to the Planning Scheme.
Glen Eira Debates 
June 7, 2017 at 12:51 PM
VCAT members are well a truly in pay of the developers, local policy may not of helped. Money talks loudly, honesty counts for nothing.
June 7, 2017 at 4:06 PM
You can write off Glen Huntly Road all the way up to Carnegie. It will become a concrete wind tunnel.
June 13, 2017 at 9:13 AM
Agree. I drive up this road frequently. Developer paradise.
June 7, 2017 at 5:05 PM
Forget council’s posturing on coming up with a new heritage policy. That won’t be for another couple of years at the very best. In the meantime this will go on and on.
June 13, 2017 at 9:16 AM
While they are busy running useless forums asking residents ridiculous questions. Calling Bentleigh a village while they continue to build 6,7 and 8 storey buildings. Really!
June 7, 2017 at 5:06 PM
The Decision is the usual rubbish from VCAT. Ignores most of the relevant decision guidelines, embraces facadism, attaches “great weight” to irrelevant matters, enthusiastically endorses the failure to comply with standards, provided zero evidence that the cumulative impact of the decision if replicated is sustainable. Then there’s the out-of-date opinion of VCAT that the lack of diversity in accomodation is acceptable, as if you can’t build units anywhere in the municipality under VC136. That’s what you get when you staff the Tribunal with members from the development industry.
June 7, 2017 at 9:45 PM
Don’t forget that’s what you get when you get a council that is all gung ho on development to bring in more rates and dont do a thing about a planning scheme that lets all this happen for years on end. Don’t forget Frogmore and Lipshutz who didn’t believe anything should be heritage and his supporters in Pilling and Hyams.
June 8, 2017 at 10:21 PM
GLEN EIRA — PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE ACTIVITY CENTRE, HOUSING AND LOCAL ECONOMY STRATEGY DRAFT — MAY 2017 has the this …. “Undertake a major heritage review across Glen Eira”
This is going to be needed as the development in Carnegie, Glen Huntly and to some extent Bentleigh have been of very poor quality and have just rolled over any suggestion of heritage within their precincts.
Carnegie and Glen Huntly have already lost their two best building over the last few years, both distinctive bank buildings from mid last century.
If the old red verandah’ed brick shopfronts are lost and replaced with the substandard rubbish we have already seen and now suffer. We will have lost almost everything that make the centres distinctly regional.
Visiting stretches Glen Huntly Road, Glen Huntly and Centre Rd Bentleigh you now get a great view of people’s washing hanging out on the balconies to dry. If this trend continues it really will Hong Kong 1960’s.
The strategy goes on to comment on Major Activity Centres ….. “Major focus for implementation of new open space preferably with walking and bicycle linkages” …… with no suggestions or ideas what so ever where this open space could come from.
Maybe we’re not that far any from considering shopping centre carparks as open space.
June 9, 2017 at 10:26 AM
Off topic – worthy of a read –
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/inner-south/glen-eira-councils-carbon-footprint-up-4-per-cent-in-201516-water-usage-swells/news-story/eb8275fe02b4971f7654ec3a3eb1448a
June 9, 2017 at 1:19 PM
Also off-topic: yesterday’s Age had an article about a dispute involving the builder Steller. It is Steller that illegally closed off entirely the eastern footpath in Mimosa Rd Carnegie. It has also failed to obtain relevant permits, failed to comply with conditions on the permits it has obtained, and yet claims everything it has done is with the approval of Council. Somebody at Council has exceeded their authority and had better hope they won’t be required to make up the revenue shortfall personally. Really it is scandalous.
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/elwood-family-seeks-injunction-to-have-crane-swinging-over-their-home-taken-down-20170607-gwmff0.html