News / Planning
Minister ignores council objections to approve ‘Great Wall of China’
Development is “hostile” to the community, says Deputy Mayor
Mark Phillips
VICTORIA’S Planning Minister has approved an apartment building bordering Clifton Park in Brunswick that has been likened to the Great Wall of China a day after Merri-bek Council voted not to support it.
The Minister granted a permit to the developer of the nine-level building, to be known as ParkLife 2, on March 27. The previous night councillors voted unanimously to tell the Department of Transport and Planning that the project in its current form was opposed by the council.
The developers, a collaboration of Hip V Hype and Austin Maynard Architects, had bypassed the council’s planning process by applying directly for approval from the Minister for Planning under the state government’s controversial Development Facilitation Program.
At the Planning and Related Matters committee meeting on March 26, councillors heavily criticised the design of the building, at 427 Albert Street, because it would block access to Clifton Park from the road.
Councillors unanimously voted in favour of a recommendation from the council staff not to support the $29 million development because of a number of design issues, including the lack of physical breaks that would create a continuous wall between Albert Street and Clifton Park.
Staff had already conveyed the council’s opposition to the Department of Planning on March 6.
The 1188 square metre site on the northern side of Albert Street, currently occupied by a single storey brick building, will fill the missing link between two multi-level apartment buildings that have been approved immediately to its east and west.
At 34.6 metres in height across nine levels, it will contain 61 dwellings plus ground level, office and retail space.
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At the council’s PARM meeting, Councillor Sue Bolton led the criticism of the project and was joined by councillor Jay Iwasaki, in whose Bulleke-bek ward it is located, and Deputy Mayor Helen Politis.
“It is a bit like the Great Wall of China around Clifton Park,” Bolton said.
“If this development goes ahead, it would block off a walkway not just into the park but through that whole region north and south. I think this would be really dangerous if this developer gets away with this … I think this would be a disastrous precedent if the minister agrees to this and it shows how rotten this developer is if they’re thumbing their nose to the community and running off to the minister.”
Bolton added that the small contribution towards affordable housing – equivalent to 3% of the project cost – was “worse than pathetic”.
Politis said the project was “one of the most hostile to the community that I’ve seen in a long time”, while Iwasaki said it was a missed opportunity to integrate the building into the neighbouring park.
“We desperately need housing and it’s not something I want to do to block the approval of more housing … It would’ve been relatively easy to do a better design that integrates into the community but this doesn’t show that,” he said.
The developer has already begun marketing the project to buyers.
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