By Parker McKenzie
VCAT will decide on a planning application to subdivide a plot of land in Ferntree Gully 15 times after Knox City Council failed to make a decision.
The developers of the site at 17 Allora Avenue appealed to VCAT after the council failed to determine the application within the “prescribed timeframes of the Planning and Environment Act 1987.
Cr Meagan Baker, who called for a report of the proposed development at a previous council meeting, said the development is inconsistent with the local area.
“The proposal will not provide an appropriate balance between the need for additional housing while respecting and positively responding to the site and its local context within the local Dandenong foothills,” she said.
“I’m seeking for my fellow colleagues to support this evening to form the view of supporting the officer’s recommendation and the report to refuse this planning application due to the number of inconsistencies outlined.”
The report recommended that if the council were in a position to make a decision in the prescribed timeframe, it would have issued a “notice of decision to refuse to grant a planning permit” for the development because it fails to satisfy relevant planning policy framework strategies and objectives, fails to comply with local planning policy, is consistent with the neighbourhood residential zone and the design and development overlay and does not avoid the removal, destruction or lopping of native vegetation.
The application received 13 objections, with various concerns raised when it was referred to the council’s asset officer, stormwater engineer, transport and traffic engineer and arborist.
The motion was carried unanimously.
