VCAT go-ahead bad: councillor

By Kath Gannaway
YARRA Ranges councillor Graham Warren has labelled a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) decision giving the go-ahead for a 56-unit retirement village in Wandin North as “diabolically bad”.
Despite objections from residents and refusal by the Shire of Yarra Ranges, VCAT approved the development which will include three separate dwellings at 9 Prospect Road.
VCAT overturned the shire’s decision, dismissing concerns that the facility was not in keeping with the objectives of the shire’s planning scheme, was an overdevelopment of the site, had poor access to community facilities and was not in keeping with the rural amenity of the area.
Objectors raised concerns also about the amount of traffic the development would generate on the unsealed Prospect Road and other connecting streets in the area.
The application was heard by L. Hewet and K Gilfillan, who found the design and layout of the proposal met both the existing neighbourhood character and the shire’s preferred character statement.
The panel said it should be recognised that a retirement village would adopt a different built form to what was already established and it was not reasonable to expect it would be the same.
They also found vehicular access to the site was adequate and that the increased traffic would not warrant the roads to be upgraded.
In response to residents’ concerns of increased dust and noise the panel said the impacts were not “unreasonable”.
If the council or residents found in the future it was a safety or amenity problem, they could have the roads made under a contributory rates scheme.
“The fact that the council and the residents who are going to be most affected were unanimous in their opposition did not seem to matter at all,” Cr Warren said.
“I get more and more annoyed that an appointed person, or in this case two people, seem to have more authority than a democratically elected council and the will of the community.”
“If this was a housing development they would be made to seal the road. It’s just mind numbing,” he said.