Blackburn: Trees to be removed on corner of Whitehorse Rd and Frankcom St

What takes precedence, housing or nature? In the case of a site in Blackburn, housing wins with trees and shrubs to make way for apartments.

All the trees at 48-52 Whitehorse Rd, Blackburn are to be cleared for apartments.

A tree-covered Blackburn block will lose all its greenery to make way for a five-storey apartment building.

Plans for the development at 48-52 Whitehorse Rd have just been approved at VCAT, despite Whitehorse Council and neighbours’ protests.

The irregularly shaped 1866sq m lot on the corner of Whitehorse Rd and Frankcom St, which has long hosted three houses “in established garden settings”, will be completely cleared ahead of the construction of 40 apartments.

The land at 48-52 Whitehorse Rd, Blackburn will be completely cleared for the development.

Whitehorse Leader understands 38 trees, including three healthy “semi-mature” Sequoia trees, will be removed.

A neighbour, who did not want be named, said some of the trees had been there longer than the 40 years she had been in the area.

The 16.5m high building that will go up in their place will include a mix of one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments.

Two levels of basement carparking will contain 47 spaces for residents’ cars and five for visitors.

The gardens will be completely removed.

The council rejected Frankcom Blossom Pty Ltd’s plans for the development in March, objecting to the removal of all the trees, and that the building would unfairly impact the single-storey house behind at 2 Frankcom St.

But member Michael Nelthorpe gave his approval for the trees’ removal, saying the large, established trees weren’t native and would “eventually sit awkwardly with the higher, larger buildings”.

The original plans for the building, which have since been slightly changed at VCAT.

He said a number of the other trees were “weed species that should be removed” and that the landscaping proposed by the developer was an acceptable response to the loss of trees.

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Mr Nelthorpe said he also considered “the adverse impacts on the amenity of 2 Frankcom St and the traffic impacts” to be acceptable, noting the applicant had altered the plans after the council’s refusal to grant a permit.

Sales are underway for the 20 townhouses to be built across three-storeys at 4-6 Frankcom St.

Whitehorse Leader understands sales are already underway for the 20 townhouses set to be built at 4-6 Frankcom St — the land on the other side of 2 Frankcom St.