On 29, 30 and 31st May the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal heard the case between Banyule Management PL and Banyule CC. The developers challenged Council’s refusal of a permit to build three townhouses on the southern end of the Banyule Homestead site.
Some time ago I wrote a post on this blog called Why I’m as mad as hell about Banyule Homestead. You might want to go back and read it to see why I’ve been so engaged with the whole matter.
We received notification of the decision today. The chairman, S. R. Cimino concluded:
I accept that the subject land presents some opportunity for increased development over the southern part of the land. However, the land is subject to heritage and environmental constraints. In this case, the proposal fails to respond appropriately to its context. I suspect that too much development is proposed over the southern part of the land. A reduced development which provides for an appropriate setback from the homestead and escarpment boundary, suitable landscaping and does not present unreasonable visual bulk to the rear open space of 58 Buckingham Drive is required.
I will affirm the Council’s decision. The permit application is refused.
You can read the full decision on the Friends of Banyule website here.
I will post the link to the decision on the AustLii site when it is available. For now at least, the proposal in its present form has not been approved.
If you’d like to read more about Banyule Homestead itself and its long history, please visit my other blog at http://banyulehomestead.wordpress.com
The Resident Judge of Port Phillip 