Burwood student housing: neighbours call for more carparks

Burwood residents are already frustrated by the large amount of student housing in the area, with cars clogging roads and taking parking spots. And they are about to get a whole lot angrier if a proposed development gets the green light.

Residents say students’ cars are clogging up Burwood streets.

A plan to build 52 student apartments in place of two single-storey houses — with only 13 off-street carparks — has neighbours worried about the future of parking in Burwood.

It comes as neighbours are already fed up with the strains caused by suburb’s large student population, with congested roads, heavy parking restrictions and dumped rubbish common across the area.

Two Box Hill South owners have applied to replace the houses at 10-12 Inverness Ave with two three-storey student accommodation buildings, which would each include 26 units.

The two buildings would each host 26 studio apartments.

The development, which would be located 100m from a bus stop and 300m from Deakin University, would have 13 car spaces, including two disabled parks, and 32 bike storage racks.

A ‘Green Travel Plan’ filed with the application outlines ways residents could be encouraged away from driving, including a monthly newsletter on green travel and fitness, and a wall of honour in the common room to recognise the most active resident.

But neighbours have slammed the proposal as completely “inappropriate” for a small residential street not within walking distance of a main shopping precinct, saying residents will have cars but nowhere to park them.

Alecia Lepp said the parking plan was “totally inadequate”, with Burwood streets already consumed by students’ cars.

The site is located 300m from a Deakin University entrance.

“Streets are already overcrowded,” she said.

“Full of student cars blocking driveways.”

Ms Lepp said the five students living in one house across the road from her each had a car, while they only had one off-street carpark.

A series of people told Whitehorse Leader residents’ cars were already clogging up streets and naturestrips in Burwood, and said at least one carpark was needed for each student apartment.

The application for the development says the planned provision of carparks is in line with the Whitehorse Planning Scheme, which recommends student accommodation buildings within 500m of a tertiary education institution have 0.25 parking spaces for every bed.

But back in August 2018 Whitehorse Council acknowledged the recommendation — which was written a decade ago — was out-of-date after it reviewed the student policy.

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Mayor Sharon Ellis, who was a councillor at the time, told the council it was not as common for students to have cars when the policy was written.

“The reality is, they certainly have cars,” she said.

The council asked the planning minister permission to propose changing the scheme so 0.45 car parking spaces were recommended for every bed in a student accommodation building within 500m of a tertiary institution, but the idea was not supported.

It then advertised its plans to revert to the existing parking rates, and did not receive any public feedback.

The council is about to vote on these rates before passing them to the minister for approval.