After two-year debate, Whitehorse Council abandons plan to curb high-rise development in Box Hill
IT IS home to some of the tallest buildings outside the Melbourne CBD, but council plans to restrict high-rise development in Box Hill have been ditched after scathing public criticism.
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A PLAN to rein in high-rise development in Box Hill has been ditched by Whitehorse Council after it received scathing reviews from residents, businesses and an independent panel.
The council unanimously agreed to abandon planning scheme Amendment C175, which would have restricted development in Box Hill’s booming activity centre, almost two years it was first proposed.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Should there be a heigh restriction on buildings in Box Hill? Tell us below
Councillors also rejected pursuing the amendments in parts, with Cr Tina Liu adding Planning Minister Richard Wynne was unlikely to have approved it.
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Box Hill is home to the tallest Victorian building outside Melbourne’s CBD — Whitehorse Towers, which is 115m high.
Incoming high-rise Sky One is set to be 122.8m high.
The council has included $375,000 in its 2018-19 budget for strategic planning of the Box Hill precinct.
Council officers recommended the council undertake work to prepare to apply for a future amendment to the planning scheme.
The suggested work includes making a 3D model to capture Box Hill’s existing structures and a review and gap analysis of the structure plan and the work around Amendment C175.
Amendment C175 which would have imposed a maximum 30-storey height limit in the precinct, had been slammed in a report by an independent panel.
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Released in October, the report highlighted inconsistencies between the council’s structure plans and the proposed Box Hill building guidelines.
“The council is completely untroubled in providing contradictory policy advice for the activity centre,” the report read.
It also stated that the council’s preferred height limits did not “seem to make sense”.
Public complaints about the amendment largely criticised the heights proposed in the guidelines, with many people expressing concern about the number of high-rise buildings already popping up in the suburb.
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