Glenvill goes to VCAT this month to argue for a plan – previously rejected by Yarra Council – where every building on the Chandler Highway interface breaks DPO limits. Glenvill’s Planning Application  is now scheduled at  VCAT, after almost a year of scheduling delay.

The proposal is in fact a mega application that rolls up 3 major plans into one hearing, proposing heights up to 12 stories – well beyond the heights agreed in the DPO of 4 to 8 storeys.

Every building along Chandler Highway is over the threshold

The conflict is caused by a 12 storey  ‘Artisan West’ building and an 8 storey ‘Outer Circle’ building, where height limits are 5 storeys.
Proposed buildings are also too close together to meet density requirements.
The 3rd proposal – ‘Wetlap’ building – was also higher than guidelines allow, but was approved by council, on the basis that the height was 1.2m outside the preferred range only where the basement protruded due to the slope of the land.

Parking continues to be squeezed

All 3 applications also continue the trend to reduce resident parking with no on-street or alternative options.
The practical implications of this is now clearly playing out.
New residents, unprepared for how scarce parking is, are forced to take over local sportsground carparks, and park in neighboring streets blocks away.
This has cascaded into new parking restrictions, signage, policing and fines.
A classic case of a broad layer of inconvenience, hassle and heartache spread across many people in the community over the long term to deliver a significant cost saving to one party right now.

VCAT Scheduling

The VCAT hearing is scheduled for  late Jan 2022. The hearing will be at 10am on Monday January 31st, according to details published here prior to the hearing.
APMAG understands that the hearing is still currently planned to be online as the tribunal has limited in-person hearings
While online is the new normal these days, APMAG is finding that – in practice – the way they are currently being conducted means that is it significantly harder to get real community engagement. in the online setting

While we know the community can’t participate in these meetings, interested parties still want to attend the hearing.
To that end we’ve been pressing the Council – as a party to the proceedings – to ask for them to be held in person rather than online.
Ultimately, this  is up to VCAT and it is looking very unlikely these hearings will be in person