St Leonards: 20m-tall Russian Orthodox church approved despite vociferous social media campaign

An enormous Orthodox church capped by a trio of domes, one of them plated in gold, has been approved despite a vociferous social media campaign by residents of the outer suburb.

Render of proposed 20.3m-tall Orthodox Church at 29 Hillary Street, St Leonards. Picture: Wilkin Design

An enormous Russian Orthodox church capped by a trio of domes, one of them plated in gold and rising to a height of more than 20m, has been approved despite a vociferous social media campaign by residents of the outer Launceston suburb.

Council officers recommended in a report presented to council that the development at 29 Hillary St, St Leonards, be approved.

City of Launceston councillors granted the approval at its ordinary meeting on December 14, voting 11–1 in favour. Councillor Danny Gibson, the former mayor, was the only to vote against the recommendation.

The church had previously been approved in the mid-2010s, but the approval lapsed.

According to the report presented to the council, the 175 sqm privately owned church would feature a trio of domes – the largest reaching to 20.3m and plated with gold – tiled roof areas, rendered walls and nine carparking spaces, which were upgraded to 12 as part of the approval.

The majority of the building would rise to a height of 9.7m.

Render of proposed 20.3m-tall Orthodox Church at 29 Hillary Street, St Leonards. Picture: Wilkin Design

The expected congregation would be 40–50 worshippers at any given time, according to the report.

Its predominant hours of operation would be Sunday from 9am–2pm, with infrequent use by smaller groups between 7am–9pm on weekdays.

No church bells or organs were proposed as part of the development.

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“The building is situated in the centre of the site and will respond to the site topography as it

is proposed to be cut into the sloped site,” the council planner said in her report.

“No overshadowing of neighbouring dwellings or buildings will occur due to placement on the site.”

The proposal received 17 objections but that only captured a small portion of the St Leonards residents who expressed their distaste for the church’s scale and location.

Concerns raised included the church’s height and bulk, traffic congestion and parking spillover, and the possibility of future expansion.

Allira Duncan, acting as spokeswoman for concerned neighbours, addressed the council meeting on Thursday.

“Unfortunately myself and quite a large amount of the community are not for the church being built,” she said.

“It’s not necessarily that it’s a church, it’s heavily the scale of building. Most houses in the area are 3–3.5m high.

“For myself, my neighbours and the majority of our estate area, this church will block our view. We have a beautiful view of Launceston.”

Alexandra and Taras Malahoff, who are behind a proposed Russian Orthodox Church at St Leonards. Picture: Facebook

The Mercury can reveal the church’s proponent is husband-and-wife duo Taras and Alexandra Malahoff, who are understood to have emigrated to Tasmania in the mid to late 1990s.

The pair own Myrtle Bank aquaculture business Mountain Stream Fishery, which produces Atlantic salmon and rainbow trout fingerlings, alongside their son Fred.