Whitehorse Council loses VCAT battle over 203 Canterbury Rd, Blackburn

Six protected trees will be cut down for a townhouse development after Whitehorse Council and its crowd of supporters lost a battle at VCAT.

Six protected trees will be cut down for the development.

A property on a main road in Blackburn is finally set for redevelopment after having been left derelict and unkempt for more than two years.

But its impending overhaul isn’t likely to be welcomed by the community, with Blackburn Village Residents Group, Blackburn and District Tree Preservation Society and 20 individuals backing Whitehorse Council in fighting the proposed revamp.

Six protected trees will be removed to make way for four townhouses to go up at 203 Canterbury Rd after Stanleyfield Pty Ltd was granted a permit for the works at VCAT earlier this month.

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The council had refused the application in August 2018 — 10 months after it was first submitted — saying the scale and bulk of the design was not respectful of the area’s character.

Four townhouses are set to go up 203 Canterbury Rd, Blackburn.

Councillors also argued the proposed tree removal and landscaping plans conflicted with the Significant Landscape Overlay covering the leafy site.

Residents submitted 24 objections to the council, with 22 objectors going on to serve as ‘respondents’ when the application was taken to the tribunal, backing the council in fighting the “excessive tree removal”.

199 and 201 Canterbury Rd have also been left abandoned.

But on May 7 Tribunal member Jane Tait ruled Stanleyfield Pty Ltd’s plans for the site “would result in an acceptable outcome”.

She made minor modifications to the design, including only allowing six of the protected trees to be removed, not seven as was applied for.

The permit will allow for four houses to be built in two pairs, covering 37 per cent of the 1845sq m property.

199 Canterbury Rd has been boarded up after being inhabited by squatters.

The houses will be 9.96m and a 6m crossover will be constructed onto Canterbury Rd, 250m west of Forest Hill Chase, so all houses will have road access.

The two properties to the west of 203 Canterbury Rd, 199 and 201, have been abandoned for more than two years, as reported by Whitehorse Leader in October.

Whitehorse Leader believes they are owned by the same developer.

When handing down her decision Ms Tait said the respondents had claimed the two properties were “suffering from benign neglect” and were awaiting the outcome of the application for 203 Canterbury Rd.

She said the council had advised an application for the house at No. 201 to be used as a medical centre was yet to be determined.

Ms Tait said she had considered the application for No. 203 based on the area’s existing conditions.