Heritage ‘nullifies the opportunity to grow’: YIMBYs win in inner west

A contentious bid to impose heritage overlays on almost 900 homes in Melbourne’s inner-west, which would have banned the use of street-facing solar panels and family-home extensions, has been abandoned.

Maribyrnong City Council implemented an interim heritage overlay in December 2021 on hundreds of properties across eight precincts in West Footscray and surrounding areas to protect the outward appearance of interwar and postwar-period homes.

Cameron Goodison bought his home shortly before it was granted heritage protection.Credit: Justin McManus

On Tuesday night, it abruptly overturned years of planning for that interim overlay to become permanent, bowing to overwhelming community opposition to the plans.

Jonathan O’Brien, founder of YIMBY Melbourne (Yes, In My Backyard – a play on the oft-derided acronym NIMBY), heralded the decision as a win for housing supply and affordability.

“Heritage overlays don’t really have an expiry date, and this overlay would have locked up almost 900 blocks of land – and these aren’t small blocks of land – pretty much forever, and precluded or certainly made it extremely difficult for that land to be changed or for the properties on that land to be developed,” he said.

“That ranges from families who want to have more kids and want to add another bedroom, all the way up to the future, as Melbourne grows, potential densification of that area. These heritage overlays pretty much nullify the opportunity for these communities to grow.”

The heritage overlays would have restricted homeowners from expanding or altering small homes because it usually required a planning permit, which could be difficult to obtain, and the support of a costly heritage adviser.

Homeowner and draftsman Cameron Goodison welcomed the decision, but said it had come too late for him and his wife.

They bought their 1940s two-bedroom weatherboard home in West Footscray in August 2021, and applied for a building permit the same year the interim heritage overlay was imposed.

They were forced to abandon plans for a $60,000 one-bedroom extension to the front of their home and instead reorient their extension to the rear of their property.

This added an extra $140,000 to the price of the renovations by forcing them to pull out and reinstall their kitchen and laundry.

“It’s a good outcome, but there’s still been a big impact to a lot of people from what they’ve done,” he said.

Mayor Sarah Carter said Maribyrnong councillors had listened to residents’ concerns.

“While it is important for council to protect neighbourhood character and heritage within the city, we need to ensure our community is not significantly impacted by these decisions,” she said.

A home on Sredna Street in West Footscray that had been included in the council’s heritage overlay.Credit: Justin McManus/The Age

“Although Amendment C172 has been through a rigorous process including consideration by an Independent Planning Panel, we have considered all aspects of the proposed amendment, including the community feedback, and feel that the financial impacts on property owners outweigh the benefits associated with heritage protection in this instance.”

The precinct overlays were established after Maribyrnong council commissioned consultants at Heritage Alliance to recommend new planning controls to protect eight heritage precincts in West Footscray and surrounding parts of Footscray and Maidstone.

The council’s consultation period in 2022 received about 200 submissions, of which just 33 supported the new heritage controls. An online petition against the changes received more than 600 signatures.

David Wixted, founder of Heritage Alliance, said his organisation had been nonplussed by the “scrambled” approach by the council to the commissioning process, which he said included council planners revising the scope of the study several times.

“I’ve got to say, I think this was one of the more scrambled-up jobs that we’ve ever been presented with; we just ended up throwing our hands up a bit about where it was going in the end.”

Carter said council would now notify Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny of its decision and request the minister remove the interim Heritage Overlay from the council’s planning scheme.

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