Geelong West residents fight Up Property on proposed Hope St, Autumn St development

Residents in a heritage area of Geelong are campaigning against a planned apartment buildings they believe betray the character of the area and ignore guidelines.

Angela Dinaro, Larissa Jones, Chris Morton, Dr Lydia Davis, Dr Zachary Trajkovski, Dean Hope and Shane Pearce in front of the proposed Hope St apartment buildings that they are campaigning against. Picture: Brad Fleet

A Melbourne-based property developer looking to build large apartments in Geelong West has been slammed as “arrogant” by residents, who are fighting the plans.

Since January 2025, locals have been trying to stop the Department of Transport and Planning from giving the green light to a block of flats that they believe will “contradict the theme” of the area.

Up Property wants to build the four-storey dwellings at 51-53 Hope St and 66-76 Autumn St.

Resident Shane Pearce said allowing the development to go ahead would set a dangerous precedent for the future of the city.

“It’s a slippery slope – once one gets in, the next ones will all get in,” he said.

“It’s a developer’s dream to hide behind legislation.”

Mr Pearce said it would be “inappropriate” to build the towers because they disregard key guidelines like the Gordon Ave Urban Design Framework and Pakington St Heritage Study.

A render of the apartment buildings from Autumn St. Picture: Up Property

“They’ve put it in the wrong spot … something as big as this ignores the rules and the character of the heritage overlay,” he said.

The buildings, which reach a height of 14.9m, exceed the maximum limit by about 3.5m.

Locals are also concerned the narrow streets will suffer from a significant increase in traffic and limited parking.

Resident Chris Morton said the influx of tenants would place great strain on amenities like roads and footpaths.

“The area is not developed enough to cope,” he said.

“You are talking about 57 units – that's around 200 additional people on the street.”

The current planning scheme means applications are immune to any third-party appeal taken to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).

Aerial render of the apartment buildings on Autumn and Hope St in Geelong West. Picture: Up Property

Under the Greater Geelong Planning Scheme, the proposal is considered a significant residential development, which makes the Planning Minister, not council, the responsible authority.

Geelong mayor Stretch Kontelj said council shared “concerns of overdevelopment” and were encouraging people to have their say.

“We’ve explained the permit process to community members who have written to us and encouraged them to lodge a submission about the development with DTP when the time comes,” he said.

However, Mr Morton felt disheartened by a lack of support.

“You may as well get rid of … City Hall – councils will become null and void at this rate,” Mr Morton said.

“We’ve worked hard to preserve the tradition of Geelong West and you have to respect what we have in place.”

Geelong council returned a positive verdict following a review of the pre-application material.

The planning permit is yet to be approved, with the DTP waiting on Up Property to provide further information on the application.

Up Property and DTP did not respond to requests for comment.

Originally published as Geelong West residents fight Up Property on proposed Hope St, Autumn St development