Residents living near Sydney Rd, Coburg rally to decrease height of affordable housing tower

Residents in Melbourne’s inner north fear giant affordable housing towers will create privacy issues and congestion to the neighbourhood. See the plans.

Coburg residents living near Sydney Rd received a notification from the Department of Transport and Planning informing them of a 15 and 16-storey affordable housing development. Picture: Google Maps.

A group of residents in Melbourne’s inner north are rallying to decrease the height of a proposed residential tower they say will impede on their privacy, overshadow their homes, and bring congestion to the neighbourhood.

Coburg residents living near Sydney Rd received a notification from the Department of Transport and Planning informing them of a 15 and 16-storey affordable housing development.

The proposed development — which was pushed through by the state government under affordable housing legislation that allows them to override councils — will comprise of 326 dwellings, four offices, one restaurant/cafe, and 156 carparking spaces.

About 60 per cent of the tower is proposed to be affordable housing.

Merri-bek council’s planning approvals for the site at 511-537 Sydney Rd allowed just an eight-storey mixed-use development comprising of 270 dwellings.

Aerial view of the location of the development in pink outline. Picture: Supplied.

Belinda Collett, who’s lived on Lobb St behind Sydney St for decades, told the Herald Sun the proposed towers would remove her family’s privacy.

“If developed, the tenants of the apartments will be looking into our backyard. I’ve got two children on the spectrum. We are an autistic family … when we go out in the backyard, if my child thinks people are watching, then they’re not going to like it. It’s a privacy issue,” she said.

“You can build a house next door and put in frosted windows, but you can’t do anything if you put in a building that is that tall.”

Ms Collett said she would love to see more buildings and amenities in the area but only with consideration to other residents.

“It’s going to drive down the value of our house because people are going to walk in and look at the house and go, oh, okay, there are six to nine balconies, communal area, looking straight down into our backyard,” she said.

Renders of the tower on Sydney Rd in Coburg. Picture: Supplied.

Locals also say the “overdevelopment” will cause overshadowing, traffic issues and congestion.

Another local, who wished to remain anonymous, said the development would impose a “visual bulk” on the neighbourhood.

“It would be higher than any other developments in that particular area of Coburg. The current development is not just the height; it’s outside of the building envelopes,” she said.

“As residents, we know it’s a very good spot for development because we have the train, trams, and shops. We’re not protesting about development per se. We want it to be within the preferred guidelines — we think that the 10 stories are quite significant in height already, and it doesn’t need to go any further.”

Renders of the tower as viewed from Lobb St. Picture: Supplied.

Merri-bek councillor Oscar Yildiz said the development site was not advertised publicly because it was under the jurisdiction of the state planning minister.

“We’re not against affordable housing. We’re not against creating accommodation because there is a massive shortage. I don’t want people to think the council is against affordable housing. Also, only 60 per cent of this development is affordable housing — the other 40 per cent is for profit,” he said.

“If the Minister approves this, we can’t appeal it. We can’t go to VCAT, we can’t go to court. There are no appeal rights because of what’s happened since September 2023 with large developments that offer some affordable housing,” he said.

The application for the development was lodged with the planning minister via the government department under a new clause introduced in September 2023, which gives the minister the power to decide how public notice of the application is given, rather than the council.

“What we want is for the minister to get an advisory panel to accept submissions from the council for residents to at least discuss this and not just approve it,” Mr Yildiz said.

“People aren’t going to want to live there … it’s going to cause people to hate their city, hate the suburb and move out.”

Merri-bek chief executive Cathy Henderson said they supported the development of “much-needed” affordable housing but was urging the Planning Minister to reduce the proposed building height from 15 and 16 storeys to 10 to reflect the preferred height controls in the planning scheme.

“Overdevelopment of individual sites is not the right solution to address the current housing crisis,” she said.

“Current data also shows that council approves 95 per cent of new housing applications, with permits for approximately 7500 dwellings issued in the five years between 2018 and 2023.”

A Victorian Government spokeswoman said any proposal would be “considered on its merits”.