Eastland: Locals slam office tower, fear impact on Ringwood war memorial

It’s the flash new tower set to be a Ringwood landmark, but it’s on the nose with locals who called it a “kick in the guts to the community’’.

Locals are unimpressed with construction and design of Ringwood’s flash new office tower, with some saying it has “bastardised” the area’s sacredness and its nearby war memorial.

But Eastland owners Queensland Investment Corporation said key groups were satisfied with the design of its EastCo office tower.

QIC bought the prime parcel of land next to Ringwood railway station in 2015 and construction began on the 11-storey tower, tipped to cost about $100m, late last year.

The tower will be the future home of the State Government’s Department of Transport and used by more than 1000 workers when it opens in early 2022.

It will be Ringwood’s tallest building until other approved developments are built at both ends of the suburb’s activity centre.

Ringwood and District Historical Society president Russ Haines feared the tower would have a major impact on the nearby Ringwood Clocktower, which honours the suburb’s fallen servicemen and servicewomen.

“This ugly black box has totally destroyed the immediate area and bastardised any solemnity or reverence associated with the Clocktower,” he said.

“A real kick in the guts for the community.”

Others had similar concerns on the society and Maroondah Leader’s Facebook pages, and some said construction was visible as far as Ringwood East and Heathmont.

Nadine Friend said the development was “shocking” and Sarge Wilson said he was “not a fan of anything over five floors in the suburbs”.

David Williams said the construction had blocked “precious winter sun from the railway station platforms and made the town centre “feel claustrophobic”, while Richard Gent described it as “a cluster f---” which hid the railway station’s old building.

But Jeff Aitchison disagreed, saying: “Wait until it is finished, it will look fantastic”.

Ringwood RSL sub-branch president David Jamison said the group originally pushed for the block to be used as a park before it was sold to QIC.

Mr Jamison said the sub-branch was assured the clocktower would not be overshadowed at key times, and EastCo’s vertical garden would lessen the impact of the building.

“We were consulted about the design and overshadowing, particularly on November 11, and we’ve made sure that’s not going to happen,” he said.

Mr Jamison said the sub-branch, which is planning its own high rise redevelopment, planned to work with Maroondah Council to revitalise its murals near the clocktower and ensure “the history of the area and the park are not infringed on”.

Eastland general manager Greg Balmforth said the centre and QIC “engaged early” with the council and the RSL sub-branch over EastCo and took on feedback in relation to the design and potential impact on the clocktower.

“This consultation process concluded with these stakeholders endorsing our design for EastCo, and we received planning approval in late 2019,” he said.

Mr Balmforth confirmed the tower was on track to be finished in early 2022.

Maroondah mayor Kylie Spears said the EastCo site was one which future buildings were required “to define the commercial centre of Ringwood”.

Cr Spears said there would be “minor morning shadowing that reduces in late morning” around the site, and tower was setback 20 metres from the eastern edge of the Clocktower’s gardens.

She said the council had no plans to move the Clocktower to a new location.