Backlash on Wantirna townhouse plans have Knox Council and Mecone Town Planning at odds
A SYDNEY-BASED developer and Knox Council are locked in a dispute over a multimillion-dollar proposal to build townhouses in Wantirna that received a record number of complaints.
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A SYDNEY-BASED developer and Knox Council are locked in a dispute over a multimillion-dollar proposal to build townhouses in Wantirna that received a record number of complaints.
A compulsory conference was held yesterday between Knox Council and Mecone Town Planning after an appeal was launched directly to VCAT last month.
The $20.5 million development of 85 townhouses on Boronia Rd received 424 complaints, the most received in a decade by Knox Council.
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Eager developers of the 2ha block at 750 Boronia Rd appealed directly to the tribunal after Knox Council failed to meet a 60-day statutory time-frame to respond.
The move means council will not be able to rule on the proposal.
Director for city development Julia Oxley said the “unprecedented” number of objections and tight deadlines meant the council missed the allotted deadline.
“Design issues with the proposal, the unprecedented number of objections received, and time-frames involved for reporting the application to Council, meant that the 60-day statutory time-frame for this application was exceeded in this instance,” Ms Oxley said.
The three-day tribunal hearing will be in early October after Mecone Town Planning lodged an appeal on May 25.
The council confirmed to Knox Leader no agreement had been struck to avoid the matter heading to the tribunal
The proposal received a backlash on social media.
Peter Croath said it would ruin the bushland environment near Dandenong Creek while Pam Hutchinson said it looked “bleak”.
Earlier this month, Cr Jackson Taylor said the plan had major design flaws with properties “crammed in wall to wall”.
“It lacks imagination. It’s townhouse after townhouse after townhouse like matchsticks one after the other,” Cr Taylor said.
“It has failed to establish any future quality of life for residents.”
According to the application, it would include 68 four-bedroom townhouses and the rest would be two and three bedrooms.
Mecone Town Planning did not respond to requests for comment.
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