Renowned award-winning Bayside homes sitting ducks for developers
Award-winning mid-century homes are a huge part of the landscape in Beaumaris and other bayside suburbs, but a council decision means they could now face the wrecking ball.
Inner South
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Dozens of architecturally significant homes in Bayside could be bulldozed by developers if urgent protections aren’t put in place, an action group warns.
The distinctive mid-century homes in Black Rock and Beaumaris are designed by renowned architects such as Robin Boyd, John Baird and Peter McIntyre.
Earlier this year, the council dumped plans for a heritage study while also stripping interim protection from the affected homes.
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Instead, it opted to allow homeowners the chance to volunteer for heritage evaluation.
A significant Beaumaris home was bulldozed in August and at least two more homes are slated for demolition.
The “ludicrous” situation has led to Beaumaris Modern to seek intervention from higher up.
Beaumaris Modern, backed by the National Trust and the Australian Institute of Architects will bypass the council and go directly to the planning minister for a panel hearing and review.
Of the estimated 5000 homes in the area, Beaumaris Modern wants 50-75 of them to be evaluated by an independent panel to determine their heritage credentials.
Beaumaris Modern also wants the council to apply immediate temporary protections while it undertakes its own heritage studies.
Group spokeswoman Fiona Austin said the group didn’t see the point of replacing award-winning homes with “monstrosities”.
“There are enough bad homes you can pull down here that you don’t need to pull down the magnificent mid-century homes,” she said.
“If it gets to the panel and the umpire’s call goes against us then we’ll live with that but we just want a proper process and a fair hearing.”
National Trust chief executive Simon Ambrose said the trust would “fight” to protect every place that came under threat.
“No other sitting council in Victoria has shown such blatant disregard for its cultural heritage,” he said.
“By once again abandoning the rigorous processes in place to identify and protect heritage places, Bayside Council has created further uncertainty for current homeowners.”
Bayside city planning and amenity director Hamish Reid said the council adopted the voluntary evaluation process after it received community feedback that a mandatory process was unacceptable to many property owners.
Mr Reid said the council began the process last week.
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