VCAT face-off

By Tania Martin
CARDINIA shire councillor Ed Chatwin has vowed to make a personal stand against VCAT’s decision to approve a four-storey development in Emerald.
Despite receiving more than 200 objections to the development, VCAT has overruled the council’s decision to refuse the application.
The application was for four-storey office, entertainment and accommodation complex for land at 386 Belgrave-Gembrook Road, Emerald.
The development will include offices, a medical centre, licensed food and drink premises and serviced apartment and will stand 6.5 metres above the road.
In December last year the council refused the application on the grounds that it was a gross over-development of the area. Cr Chatwin said little or none of what the council as the responsible authority or the objectors had to say was taken into account by VCAT.
“I am incredibly disappointed by this decision,” he said
He said there are now two options left for fighting the decision, which includes either appealing to VCAT for the decision to be corrected or revoked or take the matter to the Supreme Court.
Nearby resident have been fighting against this development for the past 18 months and have been disheartened by the approval.
They maintain that the development is an overdevelopment of the area and will cause problems with parking.
Residents at the Violet Evelyn Retirement Village located at the rear of the development will be the worst affected by the development and fear their privacy will be stripped away. Betty Love of the retirement village said her privacy would be overshadowed by the development.
“It (the development) will totally block our view and people in the apartments can look straight into our back yards,” she said.
Ms Love said she always knew something would be built on the vacant land but didn’t expect to see something so high.
“It’s very disappointing after all our hard work that it has now been approved – there is nothing else we can do now but make sure they (the developer) adhere to the conditions of the permit,” she said.
VCAT member Laurie Hewet in granting the approval said that the proposed uses were appropriate for the site. Mr Hewet also stated that the impact on the amenity of abutting properties was acceptable.
In his report Mr Hewet said despite the amenity of the rear residences being impacted, he was confident that extensive landscaping of the area would assist in filtering views of the building from the residential area.
“In arriving at my conclusion, I have been influenced by what I consider to be a clearly emerging character or pattern of development for this part of the Emerald town centre,” he said. “The nearby Elevations restaurant and gymnasium are both substantial, new buildings approved by the council in recent years.”
Mr Hewet said the approval of these two developments shows that the council is satisfied that the buildings are consistent with its policies and strategies for the area. Having looked at these surrounding buildings, Mr Hewet ruled that the four-storey development would be in keeping with the emerging character of the town.
But Cr Chatwin said the member in his decision had totally disregarded the community’s concerns.
He said if the appeal were to go to the Supreme Court he would be calling for support from objectors to join the fight.