By Callum Ludwig
Yarra Ranges councillors have approved a contentious subdivision in Seville, with an objector and supporter speaking to the motion at the Tuesday 24 October Council meeting.
The planning report is for one of the last non-subdivided lots in the area at 5 Seymour Street, which will see it go from a single dwelling to a six-lot subdivision done in stages with four new dwellings and new fencing built and the removal of 54 trees, nine of which require a planning permit to remove.
Seville resident Joanne Major who lives in a neighbouring street spoke at the meeting to oppose the project and said where the subdivision is to take place, the corner is extremely narrow.
“Most of the time there’s only one car that can actually pass around the corner, if you enter the corner and there’s a truck or a four-wheel drive coming, you need to either wait until the four-wheel drive or truck goes past or you have to reverse back and go into someone’s driveway further up Howard Street or Seymour Street,” she said.
“I have witnessed a child being hit on the road, it is that dangerous, I myself have been in a car accident on that road, a car going straight into me. I had nowhere to go, it was a straight head-on,”
“Since the Seville township has become so busy and so congested down there now, many people use Seymour Street and Howard Street as a way to avoid the Seville township, they come extremely fast down Howard Street, cut around the corner of Seymour Street and go extremely fast down the road.”
The subdivision is set to turn the 1.02 hectare (10,243 square metres) existing lot, which includes a section of the Lilydale to Warburton Rail Trail (which is Crown Land) into five lots north of the trail varying between 748 sqm and 1430. The 1430sqm lot contains the existing two-storey dwelling, which is to remain.
The remaining land north of the trail will be Green Wedge Zone land with an area of 4688 square metres.
Ms Major said her question was how will all the congestion and problems when driving around Seymour Street and nearby Howard Street be addressed for the local community with this project.
“The way I see a subdivision, it should be about the safety of the community that live in the area, it should be paramount and at the moment it is not safe,” she said.
“With a subdivision going in it is going to create even more traffic, more trucks, more four-wheel drives with the children that walk around, and the bike riders as the Warburton Trail follows Seymour Street and we have got the Carriage Cafe there.”
Two objections and two petitions of objection with a total of 49 signatures relating to the project were received by Yarra Ranges Council, which prompted the inclusion of the item in the meeting.
Chandler Ward Councillor David Eastham said one of the roads that Ms Major was referring to is actually one that he lived on for quite a while.
“I know the area and the traffic issues very well and you are spot on, every evening people will use those roads to try and bypass the traffic,” he said.
Concerns about fire and flood risk were also posed, with clarification provided on a couple of issues. It was cleared up that what was thought to be possibly be a fire access track is classified as a continuation of Howard Street, while flooding concerns tend to arise further east at the Woori Yallock Creek where Seymour Street and Drummond Road intersect.
Applicant and Planning Director of Kilsyth-based consultancy firm Millar Merrigan Michael Hales spoke in support of the report and said the application provides for much-needed infill housing in a fully-serviced location on one of the last -remaining properties with development potential in the area.
“The proposal is a well-thought-out design which retains existing dwelling, provides for four new family-sized homes on generous allotments with ample areas of open space, the proposal meets all state and local planning policies and significantly exceeds the requirements of the Neighbourhood Residential Zone and the design development overlay,” he said.
“The application has the consent of all referral authorities, in particular CFA and Melbourne Water, and Council’s Traffic Engineering Department has assessed the application and commented that the proposal is unlikely to have a significant impact on the existing traffic levels and issues on Seymour and Howard Street.”
One of Yarra Ranges Council’s traffic engineers present at the meeting confirmed that as a result of the investigation they undertook following the objections being received, they identified additional works including the installation of a splitter island and a widening of the road at the bend, which have been marked as a high-priority project to be delivered through the Capital Works Program.
Speaking to the motion, Cr Eastham said the application has highlighted the frustration from the community around some broader issues in that part of Seville, not so much with the application itself.
“I will definitely refer back to this when we are talking about future capital works, drainage concerns, traffic concerns and footpath concerns in that part of Seville when seeking funding because it’s definitely an issue,” he said.
“But what we’ve got tonight is a planning application and we’ve got to remember that when it comes to this, there are certain things that we can consider in a planning application and certain things that we can’t,”
“We know that there is such a demand for housing, so we’ve got to consider the current and future needs of the community and to me, this is very much in line with what we currently have in the housing strategy and most importantly in line with the planning scheme.”
Lyster Ward Councillor Johanna Skelton seconded the motion and it was passed unanimously, with the exception of Billanook Ward Councillor Tim Heenan who attended remotely and had technical difficulties.
