Hay St Box Hill South: Plans unveiled for former abandoned school site
A former Box Hill South school site long used by squatters and set on fire by vandals looks to have a bright future, though not everyone is happy.
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The developer behind some of the tallest buildings outside the CBD wants to turn a burnt out and trashed former school site into a $67.9m townhouse community.
The former site of the Hays International College on Hay St in Box Hill South is set to be transformed with 147 townhouses, a wetlands and a public park.
But neighbours who have endured years of vandalism and fires lit squatters fear Golden Age’s Wembley Hill development will cause traffic chaos.
Plans were put out for public comment by Whitehorse Council at the start of September, four months after yet another fire at the abandoned school’s buildings, which were knocked down weeks later.
The buildings had been abandoned since 2018, and Leader covered continuous activity from squatters vandalising and trashing the site.
Hay St resident Cathie Coates said despite the buildings being knocked down, residents in the street were unhappy with the planned “excessive” development.
“When there were fires at the old site, the trucks had trouble getting down then, so this would make the situation even worse, there’s going to be so much going on and cars everywhere,” she said.
“We’re not opposed to them building at all … but we don’t want 147 buildings towering over us, taking our light and clogging our space with traffic
“(In other nearby streets) there’s single story properties, nice little family areas, we just don’t want a slum of crammed in properties all on top of each other.
A planning report by consultants Urbis stated the townhouses would be built in a cluster fronting Hay St, throughout the former school site, and on the banks of Gardiners Creek.
A community open space reserve and wetlands are also planned across the entire 8240sq m site, and a ring road would be built throughout the site linking to an exit on Hay St.
“The proposed dwellings feature contemporary suburban residential character, garage parking and a mix of double- and three-storey built forms with variations in design,” the report stated.
“The development will significantly improve upon the existing biodiversity and landscaping character of the wider area by retaining the high-valued trees and providing canopy trees across the development, complementary to the leafy streetscape in Hay St.”
The council’s director of city development, Jeff Green, said Golden Age had proposed to deliver the project in seven stages.
Mr Green said 21 objections had been received as of September 15, with the advertising period to close on September 20.
He said officers would determine a time frame for a decision on the permit after the advertising period ended.
Golden Age were unable to provide comment to Leader by deadline.
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