VCAT overrules Maroondah Council 37 times in less than two years

MAROONDAH councillors want power wrested from the state’s planning tribunal as it continues to rule in favour of developers.

A four-storey apartment building in Ringwood East, which angered residents, was one of the planning applications rejected by Maroondah Council and then overturned by the Victorian Civil & Administrative Tribunal. Picture: Steve Tanner

FRUSTRATED Maroondah councillors say they feel “powerless” to control the surge in development across the municipality.

It comes as figures show the state’s planning tribunal is approving a high number of developers’ applications despite strong opposition from the council.

A Maroondah Leader analysis found the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal had overturned or amended 37 council planning decisions — most of them rejections — between January 2016 and October this year.

During the same period, the tribunal affirmed just 26 of its decisions.

Among VCAT’s rulings was its approval of a four-storey apartment complex in Ringwood East, and a childcare centre in Ringwood catering for 118 children.

Both projects received hundreds of objections from local residents.

Councillor Michael Macdonald said there was a “significant” conflict between the council’s desire to protect suburbs from overdevelopment and the State Government’s strategy to manage population growth.

He called on the Government to increase dialogue with councils to ensure local voices were heard.

“It makes me feel a bit powerless to be honest with you,” Cr Macdonald said.

“We can make a really good decision to satisfy both the objectors and the applicants, but then it can still go to VCAT and get overturned.

“I always believed local decisions should be made and kept locally.”

VCAT approved a four-storey apartment block in Ringwood East last month despite strong opposition from local residents. Picture: Steve Tanner

Mayor Tony Dib said he wanted more autonomy for the council to plan the spread of developments.

“I’ve always said it, and I’ll keep saying it until the cows come home: councillors know the area better than anyone else,” he said.

“I wish they’d leave us to decide where development goes and where it shouldn’t go.”

Cr Dib said VCAT’s decision-making process placed too much emphasis on State Government zoning at the expense of other factors like the impact on local traffic and vegetation.

“I see that because I’ve been there, residents see that because they live there, but some members in VCAT don’t understand that because some of them have never been to Maroondah,” he said.

Complicating the issue is Ringwood’s position as one of six suburbs designated as a central activities district in the State Government’s Melbourne 2030 planning strategy.

Maroondah Mayor Tony Dib wants councillors to have more power to rule on developments. Picture: Steve Tanner

The zone is bounded by Heatherdale Rd, the Ringwood Bypass, Ringwood Lake, and the Belgrave/Lilydale train line.

The council is supportive of higher-density buildings in this area and around Croydon’s town centre, but has been forced to watch on as VCAT has approved large apartment blocks in other areas, including Ringwood East.

Patrick Lane, spokesman for Planning Minister Richard Wynne, said VCAT was an independent and unbiased decision-maker.

“Victoria is growing because more people are choosing to live here, so we have to get the balance right between catering for population growth and protecting neighbourhood character,” he said.

“All communities have a role to play, including Maroondah.”

In a recent blow to its attempts to limit development in Ringwood East and Heathmont, the council was forced to rewrite amendments to its planning scheme after Planning Panels Victoria said it was, in part, too restrictive with building heights.

The panel recommended the council abandon the amendments, but it instead chose to submit revised plans.

It is waiting for Mr Wynne to make a decision on the proposed amendments.