VCAT approve Hicks St, Lara proposal by Ashmark Investments
A controversial $4.3m Lara development that drew more than 125 objections has been granted a planning permit by the state’s planning umpire – including a reduction in required carparking.
Geelong
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The state’s planning umpire has overruled City Hall and granted a planning permit for a controversial Lara development, dubbed a “tower”.
Ashmark Investments Pty Ltd have had thrice sought planning permission for a mixed-use development at the site, which would include an office, at 26 Hicks St, Lara, before the matter came before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).
The proposal was first put forward in late 2022, as a four-storey building promising to be not “an ugly generic bland box” – however the $4.3m proposal sparked more than 100 objections.
It was readvertised in September 2023, without a planned educational tenant, and again early 2024, after developers shaved a storey from the proposed building.
City Hall rejected the Little River developers’ latest bid in July last year, with then-mayor Trent Sullivan describing it as inconsistent with the neighbourhood character and failing to meet carparking requirements.
At the time, it was reported the proposal had received more than 125 objections and just two letters of support.
The three-storey proposal included 49 parking spaces in a basement carpark, however a shortfall of 10 spaces for office staff had been identified.
After being sent back to the drawing board three times, Ashmark Investments took the matter to VCAT.
The matter was heard by senior tribunal member Alison Glynn across a three-day hearing on March 19-21 this year.
Ms Glynn handed down her decision on April 23, setting aside Geelong council’s decision and granting a planning permit for the project, including a reduction in required parking spaces.
The key issues of the matter were whether the reduction of parking requirements was acceptable, whether the building and works were acceptable and whether the proposed use for a shop was acceptable.
Ms Glynn wrote that she appreciated “the concern of residents that there are existing carparking and traffic pressures in this part of Lara”.
However she said these were “broader pressures associated with the growth of the town as a designated urban centre in the Greater Geelong region”.
Ms Glynn said the proposal “as a whole” would provide a net community benefit, as it offered commercial office space.
“These benefits I find outweigh the potential adverse impacts of the proposal from a possible small increase in on-street parking and associated traffic in the area,” Ms Glynn wrote.
She also noted the proposal exceeded the number of recommended bicycle parking spaces by providing 14, when an expert said the site needed at least eight.
“This generous provision of bicycle parking facilities adds to the alternatives available to private motor vehicle access to the site,” Ms Glynn wrote.
Ms Glynn further concluded that “carparking requirements considerably distort the relative economic cost or viability of land uses in a way which is unlikely to lead to a desirable planning outcome.
“It is generally undesirable to allow the secondary issue of carparking to dictate primary land-use decisions,” she wrote.
Originally published as VCAT approve Hicks St, Lara proposal by Ashmark Investments
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