Boroondara Council slams plans for North East Link ventilation tower

Boroondara Council has slammed plans for a key component of the North East Link, despite the structure not being built within in its boundaries.

A 17-storey “skyscraper” ventilation tower set to be built as part of the $16bn North East Link toll road has been slammed by an eastern suburbs council.

Boroondara Council says residents’ concerns about the “bulk and visual impact” of the structure have been bypassed by the government and Spark consortium, which is building the project’s $11.1bn primary package – including the 6.5km tunnel from Bulleen to Watsonia.

The council says the ventilation tower, planned for the southern end of the tunnel near to new landscaping and bicycle trails, is four storeys higher than the tallest building in Boroondara and 13m higher than required under environmental standards.

The 53m-tall structure, which is taller than the Shane Warne Stand at the MCG, would be built on land in neighbouring Manningham, but is on the border of the two council areas.

The council says the ventilation tower is four storeys higher than the tallest building in Boroondara

It is being built near the Eastern Freeway after a decision was recently made to extend the project’s tunnel by 1.9km — contributing to a $2bn increase in the package cost — to reduce impacts on the community.

Mayor Jane Addis said plans showed the structure was in “skyscraper territory” and that requests had been made to see images of how it would look from surrounding properties at ground level rather than from helicopter views.

“North East Link Program has not responded to our questions, nor our request for ground level drawings, and as a result, our community is denied the opportunity to envisage how a 17-storey structure will appear in a residential landscape where there is nothing even close to this scale or significance,” she said.

“The structure is well into skyscraper territory and 13m higher than required to meet the environmental standards accepted by the government as part of the approved reference design, with no explanation provided for the additional height.”

The tower planned for the southern end of the tunnel near to new landscaping and bicycle trails.

The power is planned for the southern end of the tunnel near to new landscaping and bicycle trails.

The Andrews government said the south vent structure would be on Manningham land, and was designed to be as low as possible to meet “environmental and human health requirements while delivering the best possible design outcome”.

A government spokeswoman accused the council of playing “petty politics” over the issue, saying the council was pre-briefed five times ahead of the Urban Design and Landscape Plan going out for public consultation and had plenty of time to make a submission.

The Andrews government said the south vent structure was designed to be as low as possible to meet “environmental and human health requirements”.

“Victorians voted for North East Link and we’re getting on with the job of delivering it – if Boroondara Council wants to abandon its commitment to work constructively with NELP and play petty politics, that’s a matter for them,” she said.

“North East Link has been working with Boroondara Council for more than four years on this project and Council has formally endorsed the process of consultation.”

The urban design plan was put out for consultation between May 11 and May 31, with the designs to be refined ahead of major tunnelling works later this year.