By Carolyn Webb
A “bizarre’’ loophole created by the state government in a local council's planning scheme is being blamed for the demolition of a Victorian-era house in Hawthorn.
The 130-year-old brick house was razed last week to make way for 14 apartments, despite being the subject of an interim heritage order.
The City of Boroondara, the National Trust and locals now say they fear the destruction of other heritage buildings under an amendment introduced by the state in 2018.
A bulldozer moves in on 368 Auburn Road, Hawthorn, on Friday.Credit: Joe Armao
Amendment C299 allows property owners with an existing building permit to demolish buildings, despite interim heritage orders.
The City of Boroondara says it is the only council to have the amendment.
The controversial amendment is now at the centre of a stoush over who is responsible for reducing a building of heritage value to a pile of rubble.
Opponents say the state's amendment – and its subsequent failure to intervene in the demolition – enabled the destruction of the double-fronted brick house at 368 Auburn Road.
But the state government argued that councils were responsible for heritage and it was the City of Boroondara that issued the home’s owner with a demolition permit in July 2018.
The state claims that following local outcry, the council then put a heritage overlay on the property in April this year, knowing that it would be trumped by the demolition permit.
“If the council was serious about protecting this house, it would not have issued a demolition permit to knock it down last year," Planning Minister Richard Wynne said.
The National Trust called on the state government to close what it termed a “bizarre’’ loophole in the Boroondara planning scheme that it said allowed protected places to be demolished.
National Trust CEO Simon Ambrose said homes granted interim heritage protection, which meant they were being considered for permanent protection, could be bulldozed if a demolition permit had been obtained before temporary protection was granted.
“Unless this loophole is closed, more houses will be lost,”’ he said.
No. 368 shortly before its demolition.Credit: Tim Smith
The City of Boroondara said that due to the amendment, its hands were tied to prevent the demolition.
The council said in a statement that it also meant other houses in the precinct were at risk.
It said it was disappointed with the minister’s “lack of action to preserve heritage in the City of Boroondara”.
“The impact of this exemption cannot be understated as evidenced by [Friday’s] destruction of an identified heritage home,” it said.
In May, Mr Wynne intervened to stop demolition of 135-year-old Currajong House, across the road from 368 Auburn Road.
The state government said the council didn’t inform it about number 368's impending demolition until bulldozers were moving on the house on Friday.
“The council has had ample opportunity to request state intervention, but instead has sat on its hands until bulldozers are out the front," Mr Wynne said.
The council said the demolition order had been issued by a private building surveyor and it had campaigned for months to have the amendment removed.
Before the exemption, when an interim heritage overlay was introduced a planning permit would be required for demolition works.
Resident Christopher Blanden said he sent an email in February to the Planning Department, Mr Wynne and local MP John Kennedy, warning that the owner of the 1890s Victorian house had obtained a permit to demolish the building.
The letter called on the state government to revoke its amendment so that the owner couldn’t demolish the house without applying for a council planning permit.
Mr Blanden’s wife, Rose, said she feared “many, many beautiful houses across the whole of Boroondara can be demolished’’ under the amendment.
Mrs Blanden said it was vandalism that the “beautiful’’ house with established trees would be replaced by units she believed would be more suited to the Gold Coast.
Tim Smith, the member for Kew and the shadow minister for planning, said he was appalled as he witnessed the demolition.
“We can’t keep letting houses like that get destroyed, otherwise Melbourne will be irrevocably wrecked forever,” he said.
Mr Smith believes similar demolitions are inevitable “unless the planning amendment C299 is revoked” due to land values in Boroondara "and this government’s bizarre priorities when it comes to heritage".
"They want to list the Eastern Freeway [for heritage protection], but they wouldn’t give a toss about a 130-year-old property in Hawthorn," he said.