News / Planning

Ex-MP lends support to campaign against Merri Creek development

Historic buildings and trees would be removed to make way for town houses

The original 1880s cottage will be retained and refurbished for modern use.

Mark Phillips
Monday, June 20, 2022

FORMER State and Federal MP Kelvin Thomson is among scores of objectors to a proposed housing development close to Merri Creek that would see the removal of trees and buildings more than a hundred years old.

Mr Thomson, who served as the Federal Member for Wills from 1996 to 2016, has written an objection against the proposed construction of seven two and three storey town houses at 38 Harrison Street, Brunswick East, in his role as convenor of an organisation called Planning Democracy.

Moreland Council’s Planning and Related Matters Committee will on Wednesday consider a recommendation to approve the development with 37 conditions.

More than 135 objections have been lodged against the project, which would include the removal of six trees and demolition of two buildings which are believed to date back to the late-19th century.

UPDATED, Wednesday, June 22: Moreland City Council’s Planning and Related Matters Committee voted unanimously tonight to refuse a permit for the development at 38 Harrison Street.

Councillor Sue Bolton, who moved the refusal, said it was an overdevelopment of the site that would lead to the loss of trees and wildlife and have an unacceptable impact on the Merri Creek environment.

She said the development should be halved in size to retain the unique character of the area.

The development site is opposite Jones Park and directly next to the prominent Russian Orthodox Church at the eastern most end of Albion Street. On its other side is a four storey apartment complex.

The new town houses would be built at rear of the site, close to the Merri Creek path.

The most prominent building on the site, a three bedroom timber cottage that was built in the 1880s, will be retained but altered to make it habitable. A brick cool room which is believed to date from the first decade of the 20th century will also be retained but relocated to a different part of the site to reduce flood risk.

Kelvin Thomson

But three other buildings which are more than a century old, including a large studio and a stables/workshop built, would be demolished.

A report to the council meeting says the buildings either have little remaining historical value or are in such a state of disrepair that retaining them would serve no purpose.

Concerns have also been raised about the removal of five out of seven mature trees from the site, but council officers say there is nothing unusual or large about the peppercorn trees.

Other issues mentioned by objectors include parking and traffic, the impact of the development on the Merri Creek environment, and drainage and flooding concerns.

In his submission, Mr Thomson – who also served as a Coburg councillor for seven and State Member for Pascoe Vale for eight years before entering Federal politics – says the application should be refused and the developer should be required to scale down the project to retain the trees and old buildings and to contribute more open space.

“It is regrettable that heritage protection has declined in importance in the last couple of decades,” he said.

The Brunswick Community History Group said the proposal represented “unacceptable over-development in this historically and environmentally sensitive area”.

The group’s president, Elisabeth Jackson, said the 1880s cottage was a rare remaining example of an early Colonial workers’ cottage in the area.

“While the cottage itself is not under threat, it would be diminished by the presence of large modern buildings all around it,” the group’s president, Elisabeth Jackson, said in a submission to the council.

“In addition the proposal involves the demolition of the stables/workshop building which is possibly the last remaining stables in Brunswick and as such, is of historical significance.”

Friends of Merri Creek have raised several concerns including that the project does not achieve required environmental objectivs and has a poor interface with Merri Creek parklands and trail, would exacerbate flood risk, and does not contribute any open space.

“Overall, we consider that the proposal remains an overdevelopment on this sensitive and constrained site,” the organisation’s vice-president, Ann McGregor, said in a letter to the council.

Michael Dunn of Metropol Planning Solutions, on behalf of the site owners, said the development had been designed to maximise open space and take account of the surrounding natural environment. He said the project was deliberately lower density than the apartment building next door.

“The owners have engaged in good faith with Council since April 2020 and over the last 26 months they have listened to Council’s officers, to objectors and to a great number of other stakeholders,“ he said.

“They’ve made changes and compromised to achieve an exceptional infill townhouse development – one which will undoubtedly be shown to be an exemplary development once constructed.”

Mr Dunn said concerns about flooding had been addressed, and designs had been amended to protect the heritage values of the site.

News / Planning

Ex-MP lends support to campaign against Merri Creek development

Historic buildings and trees would be removed to make way for town houses

The original 1880s cottage will be retained and refurbished for modern use.

Mark Phillips
Monday, June 20, 2022

FORMER State and Federal MP Kelvin Thomson is among scores of objectors to a proposed housing development close to Merri Creek that would see the removal of trees and buildings more than a hundred years old.

Mr Thomson, who served as the Federal Member for Wills from 1996 to 2016, has written an objection against the proposed construction of seven two and three storey town houses at 38 Harrison Street, Brunswick East, in his role as convenor of an organisation called Planning Democracy.

Moreland Council’s Planning and Related Matters Committee will on Wednesday consider a recommendation to approve the development with 37 conditions.

More than 135 objections have been lodged against the project, which would include the removal of six trees and demolition of two buildings which are believed to date back to the late-19th century.

UPDATED, Wednesday, June 22: Moreland City Council’s Planning and Related Matters Committee voted unanimously tonight to refuse a permit for the development at 38 Harrison Street.

Councillor Sue Bolton, who moved the refusal, said it was an overdevelopment of the site that would lead to the loss of trees and wildlife and have an unacceptable impact on the Merri Creek environment.

She said the development should be halved in size to retain the unique character of the area.

The development site is opposite Jones Park and directly next to the prominent Russian Orthodox Church at the eastern most end of Albion Street. On its other side is a four storey apartment complex.

The new town houses would be built at rear of the site, close to the Merri Creek path.

The most prominent building on the site, a three bedroom timber cottage that was built in the 1880s, will be retained but altered to make it habitable. A brick cool room which is believed to date from the first decade of the 20th century will also be retained but relocated to a different part of the site to reduce flood risk.

Kelvin Thomson

But three other buildings which are more than a century old, including a large studio and a stables/workshop built, would be demolished.

A report to the council meeting says the buildings either have little remaining historical value or are in such a state of disrepair that retaining them would serve no purpose.

Concerns have also been raised about the removal of five out of seven mature trees from the site, but council officers say there is nothing unusual or large about the peppercorn trees.

Other issues mentioned by objectors include parking and traffic, the impact of the development on the Merri Creek environment, and drainage and flooding concerns.

In his submission, Mr Thomson – who also served as a Coburg councillor for seven and State Member for Pascoe Vale for eight years before entering Federal politics – says the application should be refused and the developer should be required to scale down the project to retain the trees and old buildings and to contribute more open space.

“It is regrettable that heritage protection has declined in importance in the last couple of decades,” he said.

The Brunswick Community History Group said the proposal represented “unacceptable over-development in this historically and environmentally sensitive area”.

The group’s president, Elisabeth Jackson, said the 1880s cottage was a rare remaining example of an early Colonial workers’ cottage in the area.

“While the cottage itself is not under threat, it would be diminished by the presence of large modern buildings all around it,” the group’s president, Elisabeth Jackson, said in a submission to the council.

“In addition the proposal involves the demolition of the stables/workshop building which is possibly the last remaining stables in Brunswick and as such, is of historical significance.”

Friends of Merri Creek have raised several concerns including that the project does not achieve required environmental objectivs and has a poor interface with Merri Creek parklands and trail, would exacerbate flood risk, and does not contribute any open space.

“Overall, we consider that the proposal remains an overdevelopment on this sensitive and constrained site,” the organisation’s vice-president, Ann McGregor, said in a letter to the council.

Michael Dunn of Metropol Planning Solutions, on behalf of the site owners, said the development had been designed to maximise open space and take account of the surrounding natural environment. He said the project was deliberately lower density than the apartment building next door.

“The owners have engaged in good faith with Council since April 2020 and over the last 26 months they have listened to Council’s officers, to objectors and to a great number of other stakeholders,“ he said.

“They’ve made changes and compromised to achieve an exceptional infill townhouse development – one which will undoubtedly be shown to be an exemplary development once constructed.”

Mr Dunn said concerns about flooding had been addressed, and designs had been amended to protect the heritage values of the site.