Multi-storey plans for Mount Scopus Burwood site near SRL station alarm Whitehorse council, residents
A proposal for thousands of flats in Melbourne’s east has sparked fierce community backlash over height and transparency concerns after the 10-hectare Burwood site was earmarked for up to 3000 new homes.
The prime real estate is currently part of Mount Scopus Memorial College’s Burwood campus, but school moved to Caulfield in the coming years.
Located on the Burwood Highway, next to Deakin University and opposite the future Suburban Rail Loop station, the land falls under the state government’s Development Facilitation Program (DFP) Unlocking Strategic Areas scheme, which allows rapid housing developments with 10 per cent affordable housing.
Although there are limited details publicly available about the future of the site, residents around the school have mixed views on the proposed land containing thousands of apartments. Deakin University, currently the tallest building in the immediate area, is less than 10 storeys high.
Although the City of Whitehorse insists the school’s tallest building will be no more than 20 stories Proposal submitted to the government In April, it included two options: one catering to approximately 4500 people in 2500 residences, the other catering to 9000 people in 4200 residences, accompanied by a “maximum development scenario” image depicting multiple high-rise buildings of up to 45 floors.
When contacted by this imprint, a spokesperson for the Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) said the council had made a “mistake” and had tabled an earlier iteration of the masterplan.
But Whitehorse Mayor Kirsten Langford said a proposal for heights of up to 45 storeys remained on a state government portal accessed by the council.
Langford said the council, which has no planning control over the land, was not opposed to densification but was concerned about “inadequate” consultation, potential building heights and scale and access to open space, schools, healthcare and other services to support that level of population influx.
“We are very concerned about a proposed 45-storey tower and an estimated 9,000 new residents; we believe this figure is probably excessive for the site,” he said. Age.
He said the council had received “very little” information about the proposal, had two weeks to respond in February and was seeking more information.
“Questions about current plans raise the issue of transparency regarding the entire process; those plans for the proposal are not publicly available,” Langford said.
Whitehorse councilors support The motion criticizing the claim that DFP was “misused” questions why a proposal for the site was not part of the Burwood SRL area consultation.
Residents around the school had mixed views on plans for thousands of flats.
Local Colin Crotty backed land being turned into low-density housing, but “not 20 or 40” [storeys] because then you are building a site in a low-rise area.”
John Bruce was concerned that Burwood could gradually become a high-rise suburb like Box Hill, and questioned how the streets would cope with the “enormous” amount of new traffic.
“What does it mean for an area like this? A quiet suburban street, what’s that going to do to that?” he said.
But Loki McCallum said it would be great to have more home in your pocket due to its proximity to public transportation. “The more housing the better, I would like to be able to buy a house one day,” McCallum said.
A spokesperson for Mount Scopus said consultations would begin next month.
RMIT University urban planning and sustainability lecturer Liam Davies said concerns about amenities to cater for a large population influx could be addressed with high-quality development.
“It’s a little concerning that all this work is going into the Suburban Rail Loop regional planning and we now have proposals for areas that are not included,” he said.
YIMBY Melbourne organizer Jonathan O’Brien said the site was ideal for a major development.
“Local control is leading to the decline of metropolitan areas, and so what we really need to see is more houses being built in more municipalities,” he said.
The DTP spokesman said that the strategic areas program was aimed at unlocking idle land and that any proposals would be taken into consideration, but it would not be appropriate to comment further as the project was at the pre-application stage.
Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny said in April that plans for development-ready land could be lodged with councils for up to two years and the aim was to halve that waiting period.
Whitehorse is not the only council with concerns about the Unlocking Strategic Sites programme, which includes plans for homes on land formerly occupied by Bunnings and the radio station.
A Wodonga Council spokesman said the effort to develop the Wodonga Golf Course land had caused concern among the community and the council was not consulted before an announcement was made that it would be included in the programme.
CEO Mary Agostino said Mitchell Shire was not aware of opportunities to provide feedback on plans for the Kilmore racecourse site and wanted to be part of the decision-making process for the site.
Darebin Council is generally supportive of the plans for the two areas within the council but has raised concerns that there have been no recent announcements of public transport improvements.
The City of Greater Bendigo supports plans for the Golden Square area, as already outlined in their growth strategy.
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Rachael Ward is a journalist on The Age’s City team. Contact her at rachael.ward@theage.com.auConnect via email.
