Heritage villa could be demolished to make way for a luxury car showroom in Kingswood
A 10-room villa stands in the way of a plan to build an Aston Martin showroom on Belair Rd, which locals say is turning into another Main North Rd. Should heritage come before business?
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A luxury car retailer wants to demolish a turn-of-the-century villa in Kingswood to build an Aston Martin showroom.
Solitaire has applied to Mitcham Council to bulldoze the 10-room property, located next to a historic conservation zone, to build a dealership at 17 Belair Rd.
It already owns showrooms for Audi, Jaguar, Land Rover and Volkswagen vehicles on the opposite side of Belair Rd, in Hawthorn.
The new showroom would be five metres high and have a carpark at the back.
Local residents and heritage building supporters are rallying to save the villa.
Jen Byrne, who has lived on Balham Ave for the past 40 years, has delivered letters to her 75 neighbours, alerting them to the proposed development.
“People are amazed and horrified this is happening as they didn’t know,” Ms Byrne said.
“We’ve got enough caryards on this street … it’s going to be like Main North Rd at this rate.”
She said it would be a “total waste” to see the villa, previously occupied by a medical surgery, knocked down.
“It’s beautiful inside with mahogany fireplaces and doorframes and stained glass,” Ms Byrne said.
“It used to be a surgery and it still can be professional rooms or offices or even residential again.
“Mitcham Council has listed many of our houses in Balham Ave as heritage but its approach is so spasmodic.”
Solitaire bought the villa for $1.655 million in February 2017.
It is in the local centre zone, which allows primarily for small-scale shopping and community facilities which cater for the daily needs of the community.
The development has been classified as Category 3, which means anyone affected by it can lodge a submission.
The villa has featured on the Facebook page “Help save South Australia’s history from Demolition”, that has urged members to oppose the proposal.
A Mitcham Council employee said there had been a number of objections to the proposed development.
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Mitcham councillor Stephen Fisher, who has a declared conflict of interest as the owner of two houses in Balham Ave, said the demolition option was “dreadful”.
“If they want to use the house for a commercial office that’s fine, but the demolition of that house is a dreadful idea,” Cr Fisher said.
“In the current development plan I believe it says ‘no more caryards’.
“This proposal clearly attacks the glorious heritage suburb of Kingswood.”
Solitaire Motors said it did not wish to comment at this time.