Well welcome everybody to tonight's very first virtual meeting of the urban planning special committee meeting. My name is Councillor Gary Thompson and I chair this committee. The health and safety and the wellbeing of the community has and always will be paramount to consideration of the council.
Council continues to be guided by the government's directives and wants to be able to do the right thing for the health of our community during the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 omnibus, the emergency measures act 2020, passed by the Victorian Parliament on the 23rd of April 2020 included changes to the Local Government Act 2020, which affected the conduct of council meetings. The changes became effective from the 1 May 2020.
Council is now able to hold virtual meetings and councillors can participate in meetings remotely by electronic means of communication. This is necessitated changes to the existing operation of the urban planning special committee meeting. Unfortunately we will not be able to participate facilitate members of our community or applicants addressing councillors at tonight's meeting. Please be assured councillors have been informed with your written submissions and will consider it in their assessment of the planning application. Councillors have also had the opportunity to visit the planning application sites.
The urban planning special committee is being live streamed on the Council's website this evening, so you will be able to view the proceedings of the meeting, council deliberations and voting. The meeting is also being recorded and will be made available on the council's website as soon as practically possible after the meeting. We are conducting our first virtual meeting this evening so please excuse us as we advance we should be experiencing any teething problems.
Should technical problems be encountered by the committee and we will be adjourned until a resolution or postponed. I'm going to start by introducing my fellow councillors and officers present this evening for the urban planning special committee meeting, and councillors as I ask your name I declare that you say that you are present when I call your name. Councillor Jack Wegman, present. Councillor Felicity Sinfield, present. Councillor Jane Addis, thank you chair. Councillor Lisa Hollingsworth. Councillor Jim Parke, good evening chair I'm present. Councillor Steve Hurd, yes. Councillor Phillip Healey, present. Councillor Coral Ross, present. The Mayor Councillor Cynthia Watson, present chair. and Councillor Hollingsworth are we able to hear your voice, it appears not. We do acknowledge that Councillor Hollingsworth is with us this evening.
We also have with us the chief executive officer Mr Phillip Storer, Director of City Planning Shiran Wickramasinghe, Manager of Statutory Planning Mr Simon Mitchell, Manager of Governance Mr David Thompson, Governance Projects Officer Elizabeth Manou. There will also be a number of other officers who will be in attendance this evening and they will be introduced as they present their reports.
The purpose of the urban planning special committee essentially is to deal with issues under the planning and environment and the building act. The committee has delegated authority to make decisions on behalf of council. Councillors are familiar with the reports which include summaries of the objections received. I will now move on to the order of business as listed in our business papers. Apologies. Mr Thompson have we received any apologies for this meeting? Through you Mr chair there are no apologies for this evening. Thank you Mr Thompson.
Move on to item 1, adoption and confirmation of the minutes of the upsc meeting held on the 23rd of March 2020. Councillors can I seek a motion to adopt and confirm the minutes. Councillor Watson. I move to adopt the minutes. Thank you and do I have a seconder, yes Councillor Healey. Are there any opposed, it appears to be none. I will now ask each councillor individually if you're in favour of the motion. Councillor Ross are you in favour of the motion? That's a yes councillor Ross. Yes. Councillor Parke you're in favour of the motion. Yes. Councillor Sinfield are you in favour of the motion? Yes I am chair. Councillor Healey are you in favour of the motion. Yes mr chair. Councillor Wegman are you in favour of the motion, yes. Councillor Watson are you in favour of the motion, yes chair I support the motion. Councillor Addis are you in favour of the motion, in favour thanks chair. Councillor Hurd are you in favour of the motion. Councillor Hollingsworth are you in favour of the motion, yes chair. I don't believe I got acknowledgement from councillor Hurd, councillor Hurd are you in favour of the motion? Yeah I did say it before I don't know what's happened there might be a bit of a delay. Thank you, thank you councillor Hurd. I declare that motion carried unanimously thank you councillors.
Move on to item two a declaration of any conflict of interest of any councillor or councillor officer this evening. Councillors and officers are there any conflicts of interest that need to be declared? Councillor Sinfield. Yes chair I have a conflict of interest in relation to agenda item 3.2 which I’m happy to declare at that time under section 78 of the local government act. Thank you councillor Sinfield are there any other councillors, there appears to be none.
We'll move on to item 3.1. Item 3.1 unit 4, 9 Marlowe Street, Canterbury this report will be introduced by Cassandra Rae coordinator of statutory planning. Thank you mr chair. Upc number one relates to a property at unit four number nine Marlowe Street in Canterbury. The application is for the construction of an extension to an existing dwelling on a lot less than 500 square metres. The extension will create a first floor addition to accommodate two bedrooms a rumpus room a bathroom and a storeroom. The site is located within the neighbourhood residential zone 3 and is not affected by any overlay controls. The site is currently developed with a single story unit that was constructed mid 1970. It has two bedrooms and a single lock-up garage. Notice that the original set of plans attracted 13 objections to the application. Since notice, revised plans have been received and they're attached to the agenda tonight.
The application was formally amended to increase the southern boundary by one metre. Revised shadow diagrams have also been submitted with the application that demonstrates that the proposal meets the relevant res code from vision in relation to shadow. Overall the proposal is considered to align with our preferred neighbourhood character statements including pitch roof double story scale and will not detrimentally affect the streetscape. In relation to rescode the application achieves a high level of compliance with the relevant res code standards with the exception of site coverage in which this is not varied from the existing condition at 68 per cent and standard a10 which is side and rear set backs in which the first floor edition has a non-compliance in relation to the western setback where it interfaces with the neighbours' garage and common driveway and therefore will not impact on any sensitive area. In relation to overlooking conditions will be imposed to ensure compliance with the standard. As such it is considered that the proposal significantly meets the relevant planning policy. It is recommended that a notice of decision to grant a planning permit be issued subject to conditions.
Thank you ms Rae for your presentation. Councillors there are no public gallery presentations this evening so I will now turn into questions of the officers. Are there any questions of the officers this evening? There appears to be no questions of officers, I'm now in search of a motion can I, Councillor Addis. Thank you very much chair there's an alternative motion that's been circulated and I wonder if that could be put up on the screen. Councillor Addis this is the notice of refusal to grant permit pp 190707 is this your alternative motion? It is thank you chair. Thank you, to assist councillor Addis is there a seconder to the motion, councillor Ross happy to second. Thank you councillor Ross. To assist Councillor Addis are there any councillors in opposition this evening you can raise your hands, Councillor Parke, thank you councillors and councillor Wegman. Thank you we'll now turn to the mover's response councillor Addis do you like to move thank you chair. For me this is a really tough one to judge because when I look at it and read the officer's report I think if I were an officer then I would be um suggesting that this application be approved because technically what's being proposed here is compliant but I’m not an officer and I guess that gives me the option to look at other things that aren't just the technical things and what I see here is one of four that was built in a way that didn't really contemplate this sort of extension, it was built in another era when it seemed that you know two-bedroom houses um were very much more accepted and that's what it was built for it's for one of four on a block and it sits well within the block as a very modest house but what they're seeking to do here is to turn a very modest house into a three-bedroom plus study plus rumpus room family home.
And yet it doesn't provide the sorts of things that a modern development of that scale would provide these days. It doesn't provide adequate parking what we see here is just one car park and essentially this application largely relies on the amenity of the surrounding properties it only works because there is plenty of open space around it and what I can see is that this is one of four and while technically yes this is compliant I think what would happen if we ended up with four houses on the block that were equivalent to this and what we could end up with is 12 to 16 bedrooms if we count the study as a potential bedroom and then we could end up with eight or more cars very easily whereas each unit only really has one car space so it's for those sorts of reasons that I don't feel I can support this application and thus the moving of this notice of refusal, thank you chair.
Thank you councillor Addis, um councillor Watson as seconder do you wish to speak now or reserve your right? Cr Ross was seconder. Yes I'm seconding and yes I'll speak now. I'm well reminded that Cr Wegman often says that when one looks at planning there are objectives which must be met, but standards which should be met. Often what we do is look at the standards and say if they meet the standards then that's fine. In this particular case it doesn't actually even meet all the standards but you will use the standards as a guide to see whether or not the objectives are met but it doesn't actually follow in this particular case because if you go to the property you can clearly see how much of an overdevelopment that this is. As councillor Addis said that the current property sits very well within the block and what this would be would be doubling the number of bedrooms, but what it will be doing it will be borrowing the neighbour's amenity to make this a viable proposition if you like. So the objectives as far as the planning scheme are not met by this proposal and for that reason I will be opposing I would oppose the original application and will be supporting councillor Addis's refusal.
Thank you councillor Ross for your response. Any other councillor seeking to speak this evening, uh councillor Hollingsworth I believe you were first followed by Councillor Hurd. Thank you mr chair can you hear me, yes we can. You've turned your camera the other direction please speak councillor Hollingsworth. Thank you thank you um I support councillor Addis' refusal I am also familiar with the site uh I agree that I believe this will be an over development. I sympathize with the residents particularly on the rear boundary and can understand why they would be concerned with the proposed application abutting the boundary but also the area is heavily developed and I believe that this would be another development to introduce the proposed building on this block.
Thank you councillor Hollingsworth and councillor Hurd. Just want to confirm can I confirm that I'm being heard because of the latency. You are Councillor Hurd thank you. I'll be very brief I'll be supporting the refusal. I agree with councillors Hollingsworth, Addis and Ross that this is in this circumstance an overdevelopment and I think perhaps a dangerous precedent.
Thank you councillor Hurd any other councillors wishing to speak on this item? There appears to be no further councillors seeking to speak. I will now return to the mover of the motion councillor Addis to wrap up the debate. Just briefly to thank those who spoke um and also to thank the officers for what I think is a technically accurate and well-written report and in moving a different motion I'm not in any way seeking to imply that there's anything wrong with this report I think it's a well-written report and as I said I'm in the lucky position of being able to judge things perhaps in a slightly less technical way and to think about the consequences for the neighbourhood thank you chair.
Thank you councillor Addis I'll now put this motion to the vote and I'm going to in turn ask each councillor whether they are in favour of councillor Addis' motion. Councillor Ross are you in favour? Yes. Councillor Parke are you in favour, no. Councillor Sinfield are you in favour, yes I support the alternate motion. Councillor Healey are you in favour, yes. Councillor Wegman are you in favour, no. councillor Watson are you in favour, uh yes I support the alternative motion chair. Councillor Addis are you in favour, um yes I am thanks chair. Councillor Hurd are you in favour, uh yes chair I'm in favour of the alternative motion. Councillor Hollingsworth are you in favour, yes mr chair. And I will declare that I too am in favour and I'll declare that motion carried, thank you councillors.
We'll move on to item 3.2 but before we do so we recognize that councillor Sinfield has a conflict of interest it's a little bit of magic to occur shortly. Councillor Sinfield before you depart can you declare your conflict. Thank you chair I have a conflict under section 78 of the Local Government Act in relation to this item being agenda item three point two, eight five two to eight five eight Glenferrie Road in Hawthorn. I'll now excuse myself from the meeting thank you. Thank you Councillor Sinfield, Councillor Sinfield is no longer a part of this item so we'll now return to item 3.2 852 to 858 Glenferrie Road Hawthorn, this will be introduced by Julia Smith senior statutory planner.
Thank you and through you mr chair I present upc item 3.2 associated with the land at 852-858 Glenferrie Road in Hawthorn. The proposal seeks permission to construct a seven-story building above basement car parking comprising of a residential hotel with 95 lodging rooms and a food and drink premises at the ground floor level. The proposal also seeks permission to reduce the standard car parking rate and bicycle facility requirements associated with the food and drink premises, and to construct a canopy in a road zone. The application was advertised in December 2019 and 39 objections were received. The key issues raised in the objections related to a lack of on-site parking increased traffic generation in the laneway and amenity impacts to residential properties. All matters raised by objectors have been addressed in the delegates report. With regards to the proposed reduction in car parking conditions are recommended to be included on the planning permit which will require the development to fully comply with clause 5206 in relation to both the residential hotel and the food and drink premises.
Council's traffic engineers have reviewed the proposal and are satisfied the volume of traffic generated by the development will not exceed the capacity of the laneway or the wider local network. And subject to the recommended permit conditions the safe operation of the laneway will be ensured. It is important to note that it is proposed to widen the laneway to match the setbacks of the adjoining building to the north which will assist with improving traffic movement and flow within the laneway. In respect to the site's interface with residential properties to the east of the rear laneway the proposed development achieves full compliance with res code in terms of its rear setbacks overlooking and overshadowing. The proposed development is half a metre lower in height and one story in overall height and one story lower in street wall height than the adjoining mixed use building located to the north. Providing an appropriate transition to the buildings located to the south of the site. The proposed upper level setbacks vary from 1.7 meters to 5 meters, forming a rate profile and this will assist in screening the southern black wall of the adjoining property which would otherwise be exposed. It is recommended that council issue a notice of decision to grant a planning permit subject to the conditions detailed in the report thank you mr chair.
Thank you miss smith for your presentation councillors again there are no community presentations this evening so I'll turn your minds to questions of the officers. Are there any questions of the officers. Councillor Hurd. Thank you chair um i have one question and I'm prepared to foreshadow a motion as printed from the officer's recommendations. Thank you um my question is um just to clarify the current building I believe I'm told there are Telstra towers or some sort of apparatus above the property um is it proposed on the new property that though if that's true are those facilities going to be reinstalled upon the new um property. Thank you councillor Hurd um can I seek a response to that from officers.
Through you mr chair the applicant that is correct there are telecommunications infrastructure on the existing building. The applicant has advised that they are not intending to reinstate the existing telecommunications infrastructure above the proposed residential hotel and there's no requirement for them for them to do so. Thank you in that case, thank you Councillor Hurd does that answer your question? It chair does sorry I wasn't sure when I should speak or not um and I'm happy to foreshadow that motion when required. Thank you I’ll just ask if any other councillors have any questions of the officers, there appears to be no further questions with uh moving to that time councillor Hurd you foreshadowed a motion. Thank you chair yes I'd like to move the officer's report be accepted uh as printed and that we give you grant permission. and I have a signal from councillor Parke you seconding councillor Hurd's motion that's an acknowledgement to assist councillor Hurd are there any councillors in opposition? Councillor Hurd there appears to be none so I'll move to you as the mover of the motion.
Thank you chair um thank you very much I'd like to first say that I completely understand the nature of the objections living in the area myself I understand what those objections are however I think it would be also true to say that this development does not really add effect in in a way it decreases some of the traffic that that is going to be around that area because of the fact that a they're like lane b they're producing they're being asked to comply with the clause 506 and they're also building a building which in actuality will be slightly shorter I believe than the current building which is on the on the site so um I guess it's always hard around the Glenferrie road area in relation to traffic in relation to that but i don't feel that this development will in any way add to it it won't reduce either very much but it won't add to the traffic congestion. I’ve read the objections very thoroughly the nature of this hearing and that we can't hear from objectors and I would say that this is a safe construction and won't really add to the massive traffic too much.
Thank you councillor Hurd um councillor Parke as seconder do you wish to speak now or reserve your right. Only to add that I endorse the comments by councillor Hurd. Thank you councillor Parke are there any other councillors seeking to speak on this item this evening. Councillor Hollingsworth. I also wanted to support the comments from Councillor Hurd and Councillor Parke um I believe there is a desperate need for a residential hotel in the hawthorn precinct and I'm also mindful that it's unlikely the facility is at all times going to be at full capacity uh so I believe with the officers conditions and recommendations that the application uh has a lot of merit in it I think architecturally it's a very well designed facility and I'm in full support of it thank you.
Thank you councillor Hollingsworth no other councillors appear to be seeking to speak on this item so I'll now return to the mover councillor Hurd to round out your reply. Thank you chair just thank you to the officers for their diligent work and to the developers and the objectors always a difficult process so thank you all. Thank you councillor Hurd. I will now put this motion to the vote and I'll call out each councillor's name, councillor Ross are you in favour of the motion, in favour. Thank you. Councillor Sinfield are you in favour of the motion, sorry Councillor Watson are you in favour of the motion, yes I am thank you chair. Thank you. Councillor Wegman are you in favour of the motion, yes. Thank you. Councillor Parke are you in favour of the motion, yes chair. Councillor Addis are you in favour of the motion, in favour chair. Councillor Hollingsworth are you in favour of the motion, yes chair. Councillor Healey are you in favour of the motion, yes chair. Councillor Hurd are you in favour of the motion, yes chair. And as chair I also declare that I'm in favour of the motion and I declare that motion carried unanimously thank you councillors. We'll just now wait for councillor Sinfield to return item for item 3.3.
Welcome back councillor Sinfield, I believe your camera is off at the moment. We will now return to item 3.3, 2 Denham Street and 2 Wood Street Hawthorn. This report will be introduced by Stephanie Ng senior statutory planner. Thank you through you mr chair item 3.3 before you tonight seeks for partial demolition including outbuildings and fencing and buildings and racks associated with an existing church in a heritage overlay , use of the land for a childcare centre with 118 children, construction of buildings and works associated with a section two use being the child care centre in a neighbourhood residential zone scheduled three over two lots display of a business identification signage and reduction in car parking requirements.
The site forms for part of two Denham Street and two Wood Street Hawthorn. The subject site is currently developed with five main buildings including the church a memorial hall the wood hall a cottage and the vicarage. The proposed childcare centre building itself will not be cited immediately adjacent to any residential properties with the closest residential drawings aside from the cottage and vicarage will be located north approximately 17 meters from the proposed child care centre. As a result it is considered that the proposed location and siting in itself will minimize adverse amenity impacts on the surrounding residential properties. Council's heritage advisor has assessed the proposal and is supportive of its relationship with the heritage buildings on site. Council's arborist is also supportive of the proposal subject to recommended conditions which will provide appropriate landscape opportunities throughout the site.
The proposed development and use is consistent with the policy statements of council's discretionary uses in residential areas policy. Subject to permit conditions the proposal meets all performance standards. In relation to the proposed reduction of free car parking spaces officers and council's traffic engineers are of the view that the parking reduction is satisfactory because of the survey conducted which shows that at a time of peak parking demand there were 15 car spaces available in wood street which is a non-residential street and therefore can accommodate the three car parking spaces needed if the child care centre was operating at full capacity. Council's traffic engineers are satisfied with the proposed car parking and considers the potential traffic generation will not have a significant adverse impact on the traffic conditions in the surrounding network. In response to concerns raised by objectives with regards to the existing cottage and recreation on site conditions 20 and 23 of the officer's recommendation addresses any future amenity concerns. Details of the proposal further discussions of all objections and assessment against relevant controls and policies are contained in the attachment to this report and I welcome any questions thank you mr chair.
Thank you miss Ng for your presentation. If there are no questions I will now ask councillors if they've got any questions of officers, Councillor Hurd I believe you were first councillor Hollingsworth second. Councillor Hurd. Yes thank you chair um no questions but ready to move um the motion. Thank you councillor Hurd councillor Hollingsworth any questions for the officers. thank you mr chair uh just for the officer um with regard to the car park deficiency or request for concession for reduction in three car parks the concern I have is that it is connecting to a school it's a very busy area uh I can appreciate with child care um there will be varied hours of when parents or carers do pick up children from child care but the concern I have is the drop-off time uh is likely to correlate with the actual school drop off.
And so the concern is that with the car park being limited and obviously competing uh needs of parents and carers dropping off children at school but also parents then going to childcare that with the car park reduction I ask the question of what would be required to perhaps give consideration to less number of children at child care to create one additional car space. So your question of the officers are councillor Hollingsworth about the reductions. The question is yes yes um I believe the officer's recommendation is to allow 118 children be registered at the daycare centre a maximum of 118 at any one time um to enable it to be compliant with the reduction of um one car park what would need to be the reduction of children. Thank you councillor Hollingsworth I'll pass that to the officers for a response.
Through you mr chair so for dispensation to be reduced to two car spaces we will need to limit the child places to 113 children and for dispensation to be reduced to one car space we will need to limit to 109 children and for no dispensation it will be a limit of 104 children. Right thank you thank you for that um can I reserve the right to comment later. We're in questions we will be moving through no other questions of officers councillor Hollingsworth we'll be moving into the next part of the motion. Thank you. Any other questions councillors, councillor Ross I believe you were next. Thank you mr chair um through you if I can ask regarding the hours of the um child care centre the recommendation has it that they should be 6.30 in the morning until 7.30 at night. Is 7.30 at night the normal hours for child care centres to operate until.
Through you mr chair yes so 6.30am to 7.30pm hours of operation is in accordance with the performance criteria under clause 22.02 which is the discretionary users policy so we have um proposed commissions to be in accordance with this policy. Thank you mr chair. Thank you councillor Ross does that answer your question. Thank you. Councillor Sinfield I think you foreshadowed a question as well. Thank you chair and through you to officers I’m wondering if uh I might be able to find out when the parking study was done so that both councillors and the community can be assured that the study was not done during the time of impact on our community of covid19. Ms ng.
Yes through you mr chair so the car parking survey was done on Monday 12th of November 2018. Thank you mr chair. Thank you Councillor Sinfield. Any other councillors seeking to ask questions of the officers this evening. Councillor Parke. Did I hear 2018 and if that's correct that's 18 months old I guess that that raises a different question um if it was 18 why is it 18 months old the report. Through you mr chair yes the parking traffic survey was done from my understanding the applicant has been engaging with council with this application for over 14 months so it was a lot of um so yes this traffic report was prepared in 2018 at the end of 2018. Thank you mr chair. Thank you miss Ng. Councillor Parke does that answer your question. Well it does although I guess uh my observation on that is it's perhaps sub-optimal um but it is what it is I guess. Councillor Ross I’m not sure if you gestured to ask another question, no thank you. That appears to conclude questions from councillors to officers. Councillor Hurd you did foreshadow a motion, yes I did chair and thank you for coming back to me.
I would like to move the officers' report as printed, have concerns but we'll explain that in the discussion. And thank you Councillor Hurd I'm in search of a seconder councillor Healey are you happy to second yes for the purposes of debate. Thank you councillor Healey. To assist councillor Hurd is there any opposition to this item, it appears to be four councillors potentially in opposition Councillor Hurd. As the mover I’ll hand to you to speak to your motion. Given the fact that I can't see the video who the councillors were that indicated opposition to the motion not not for any nasty sort of nefarious reasons just a matter of um addressing their concerns. Thank you um can I just ask those councillors who've raised their hands it is councillor Sinfield, Watson, Addis and Hollingsworth.
Okay um well thanks very much and I completely understand um why there might be concern about this one because I shared the concern I might add I've known about the development of this for some time this started I first heard about it in around about 2013 so I know the proposal to have a child care centre in this particular area has been going for some time. I've spoken briefly to the opponent I've also looked in very detail um at many of the or all of the objections and would observe that many of these objections are directed at matters which relate to the use of the property by the owner of the property which I believe is the Anglican church in the Melbourne diocese. So for example the school say that there'd be lack of use of the tennis court etc but that in fact is the church's property anyway and um and there's many others like that where people have seen their use for the property for a while and now that's changing.
Secondly look it's difficult with the car parking but I do note that it starts at 6.30am childcare in the morning until obviously drop off times around school times will be some parents who are taking their children to school and will have the convenience of having maybe a younger child at the child care centre and or dropping children off earlier if they need to be at work in earlier hours or later hours for that matter. so I don't know that the drop-off issue is going to be as pronounced as perhaps people might think it would be. I would also add that this area if you're going to build a child care centre this is probably the place to do it the building is very uh sensitive to heritage uh the heritage environment the bowls club is nearby the primary school is nearby and of course the Anglican church. one thing about the parking is of course that when the child care centre isn't in use on the weekends it will provide the local residents with the amenity of extra car parking at their church which means that at the weekend local residents and their guests may have a few more car parks in the neighbouring streets um to invite guests so there is a real improvement with this as well as perhaps a slight bit of more pressure in the mornings but as I said I don't know that that pressure will be as pronounced as some people may fear that it will be. it's difficult though and it is very congested but I think on balance given the fact that the church has other facilities in the area given the fact that it is an area where there's a lot of activity I think on balance I will see how we go with this with the officer's recommendation. I understand that people may have concerns but I think those concerns can be addressed and have been addressed quite vociferously by the officers and I thank the officers for their work.
Thank you Councillor Hurd for your response. Councillor Healey as seconder do you wish to speak now or reserve your rights? I'll reserve my right mr chair. Thank you councillor Healey. Any other councillor seeking to speak to this item this evening? Councillor Hollingsworth has gestured thank you. Thank you mr chair um it's not that I don't want to support the application the concern I have is predominantly just with the car parking request dispensation um when I asked earlier if I could ask the second question the second question was going to be that I would have liked to foreshadowed an alternate motion that would still support the application but with consideration to car parking is that something that I can speak to now or is that later?
Councillor Hollingsworth we're in debate should this motion fail then you're more than welcome to consider your alternative motion. Thank you. Do you wish to speak to this motion? Nothing further at this stage thank you. Thank you councillor Hollingsworth. Councillor Watson I think you foreshadowed do you wish to speak? Yes thank you chair I'll keep my remarks brief my concerns uh are the same as councillor Hollingsworth I do believe as Councillor Hurd uh eloquently put to us that there is a need for this area and in some respects uh when the child care centre is not in operation the car park will be very appreciated and certainly having experienced what traffic is like on the weekend when people attend religious services I'm sure that reducing the impact on the neighbourhood by having this extra car parking is a good thing but the extra parking is not compliant and uh therefore I will not support this I believe that the applicant needs to comply with our car parking requirements and should we have the opportunity to support or consider a motion where we are talking about compliant parking I will be supporting that so that is my only objection to this application. All the other remarks that councillor Hurd made regarding the need in this area I fully support and agree with but I don't support reducing parking so I'll leave my remarks there thank you.
Thank you councillor Watson. Councillor Sinfield. Thank you chair um I concur with the remarks made by councillor Watson and others my concern is largely around parking um and I'm not satisfied with a parking study from November 2018 is sufficiently contemporaneous to give me any comfort that that parking still remains available in the local area. I've a long-held belief that any development should be parking neutral not have any further impact on the surrounding area and be fully self-sufficient within the boundary of the site and my opinion on that will not waver on this occasion. I am delighted that the site is set to see a new future and I think that the concept of putting a child care centre into church grounds is admirable and it would be a pleasure for you know for parents to drop off children and enjoy those grounds and those buildings those that are set to remain but um but my concerns are around the parking and because of that I won't support the motion that's on the table tonight.
Thank you councillor Sinfield any other councillors seeking to speak, Councillor Addis. Thank you very much chair um I wanted to reiterate that my as others have said that my only concern is the parking I agree with councillor Hurd that this um application has a lot to offer and will be a benefit to the community but I'm struck by the bedlam that schools create in local traffic demands on a local area and this will increase the demands and if it can't necessarily provide its own car parking then these people will be competing for the few car parks that might be available um along with parents who are of the school children who are also trying to find um car parks thus just increasing the difficulty in the neighbourhood so um I’d be comfortable even if they weren't totally compliant but I’d like them to get um a little bit closer if not totally compliant thank you chair.
Thank you councillor Addis um are there any other councillors seeking to speak this evening councillor Healey as the seconder. Thanks mr chair I think my microphone's on. It is correct. yeah um look the area surrounding this uh well on the other side of the street used to be part of my ward there's a park over the road there is the primary school there to a large extent in this part of Hawthorn and the old Kew ward that was across the road it's a lot of resident parking protection so while people might come to the view that there's not enough parking actually on the site I think it will be self-regulating to a large extent. It also enjoys excellent public transport with the trams both in heading in both directions around the edges of the property so I think you'll find that this site won't be an impost for parking around it when it's in operation. We badly need in this part of Hawthorn, Hawthorn being part of the fastest growing in density in Boroondara we need more services for young families and I find that and I would ask others to think about the way that this will self-regulate and you may also affect the viability of the proposal if we go to reduce the numbers I don't think it's necessary to reduce the numbers I think it will self-regulate and we need something like this in this part of Boroondara so I'll be supporting the proposal and ask others to I suppose look at the car parking issue I'd say the officers would never put up anything that was non-compliant they have to deal with a number of factors and so when they deal with everything in balance they get a compliant outcome otherwise it wouldn't be coming to us it would have been rejected so there's been a couple of comments about it being non-compliant I would say perhaps on one factor you might say yes but then planning is more art than science and it only needs to be generally in accordance with. So I would ask people to think about the benefits to the community that this will provide. I think the parking will regulate itself and for that reason I'll support the motion and the proposal as is thank you.
Thank you councillor Healey um there appears to be councillor Parke are you seeking to speak? uh just to endorse the comments by councillor Healey he actually said what pretty much what I was going to say so I won't add to it other than to endorse his remarks. Thank you councillor Parke any other councillors before I return to the mover of the motion, appears to be none, councillor Hurd. Chair thank you chair and I thank all councillors for their contribution. The main reason that I think we need to pass this as is is there's one that Councillor Healey said it will be self-regulating which is something I forgot to mention b there is a lot of other parking around the area c there could be a delay not just to the provision of the service for the sake of one or two car spots and nobody has been more ardent than me about parking in Hawthorn particularly in about you know really sticking close to car parking requirements and with all the developments that we've had in both spac and on upsc that I've always been very strong on that but on this occasion for those very reasons I think that this project is a little bit different in fact it adds to the local car parking capacity.
For the sake of one or two car spots we're going to delay this project by perhaps a year a year and a half we're going to put council to perhaps further expense and certainly the proponents who are a church to further expenditure um for something that that may be seen as fairly minor in the in the final analysis and so when you're this close is it really worth rate payers resources and money uh to risk sort of that delay that inordinate delay particularly with the redevelopment of west hawthorn school and the parents that are asking for these services is it really worth risking that level of delay for the sake of one or two car spots and that's the question I'd leave those who are doubted doubtful of this motion.
Thank you councillor Hurd for your right of reply. I will now put this motion to the vote and I'll run through each Councillor individually, councillor Ross are you in support of this motion, no. Councillor Sinfield are you in support of this motion, no I'm not supporting this motion. Councillor Watson are you in support of this motion, no chair I'm not. Councillor Parke are you in support of this motion, yes chair. Councillor Wegman are you in support of this motion, yes. Councillor Addis are you in support of this motion, uh no chair I'm not. Councillor Hollingsworth are you in support of this motion, no chair. Uh we up to councillor Healey are you in support of this motion, yes chair. Councillor Hurd are you in support of this motion, yes chair. and I will declare that I'm not in support of this motion and the numbers have failed this motion so that motion is uh declined I'm now in search of a new motion.
Councillors is there a new motion. Councillor Hollingsworth. Thank you mr chair have I've been unmuted yes before you speak councillor Hollingsworth, sorry yes if you can speak to your motion. Thank you. Can you speak Councillor Hollingsworth to your motion. Sorry chair I'm having some audio and visual problems unfortunately, um the motion I would like to propose is to be car park compliant so in order to do that I would request that the number of enrolments be reduced to be car park compliant.
Thank you and I think we might have a motion shortly to come up on the screen. So I'll just read out this part, the number of child places reduced to a maximum of 104 children and planning permit condition 21 amended to reflect the above, I think if I recall correctly officers addressed the last 104 students meant that there was no dispensation councillor Hollingsworth is that your motion? It is chair thank you. Thank you. To assist Councillor Hollingsworth is there a seconder to this motion. Councillor Addis thank you. Again to assist Councillor Hollingsworth is anyone opposed to this motion. Councillor Parke, Councillor Hurd, potentially councillor Sinfield, Councillor Wegman.
As the mover councillor Hollingsworth I will pass to you. Thank you mr chair as I mentioned earlier I concur with the comments councillor Hurd said in support of the application with the exception of the car park compliance. I do know the area reasonably well I have been there at peak times in particular school drop-off it is already a highly congested area and with the expansion of the primary school and then the addition of the child care centre I believe every single park car park is crucial. The issue is not so much about whether it be one two or three car parks it's more about the quantity of children that equates to the use of the car parks the parents and carers probably not for children. So if the number of children being able to be registered in the child care centre could be reduced to be car park compliant then I believe that it's an excellent application.
I think architecturally it's very considered of the heritage area it's a incredible building very well thought out landscape fencing design tick all the boxes and knowing the area as I said also knowing that it's grown a lot in residential capacity in the last 12 months to two years, I believe when the parking study was done there has been considerable growth which would then be putting more pressure on the residential area very very close to this location and if the development was car park compliant I believe that the residents would be more satisfied and it would be a better outcome for the community as a whole thank you.
Thank you Councillor Hollingsworth. Councillor Addis as seconder do you wish to speak now or reserve your rights um thank you chair I'll speak briefly. What I'm seeking is either compliance or something that approaches compliance so I'm certainly happy to support this new motion but should it fail I'd also be happy to support something that reflected a halfway point. I'm very happy to support something that seeks compliance.
Thank you councillor Addis any other councillors wishing to speak on this item? Councillor Sinfield. Thank you chair without wanting to draw officers into debate I'm wondering if there might be an alternate to this in my mind so rather than reducing the number of children to 104 I'm wondering if officers are of the belief that these sites could accommodate the additional car parking required to make it compliant, through you if you're willing to permit the question. Thank you councillor Sinfield and I do not want to draw officers into the debates but if mr Mitchell could potentially answer this question.
Thanks through you mr chair officers have looked to see whether there is a possibility of providing some additional car parking on site. in our view that would be very difficult to do and would potentially create a range of other issues such as removal of more vegetation so in our view the answer to that would be no we don't think it would be reasonably possible thank you.
Thank you mr Mitchell. Councillor Sinfield we are in debate do you wish to speak to this item? No thank you chair. Thank you. Any other councillors seeking to speak to this item before I return to the, oh councillor Hurd. Yes thank you thank you look the reason I supported the original motion was almost pretty much because of what mr Mitchell just said there's there is a lot of tree life in the area as well and there's been concern from residents about the removal of trees. If you reduce the numbers of people at the child care centre then that creates other problems. Having said that I'll be voting against this motion because I did believe that the given the fact that I've gone through this issue for a long time I know that we've reached a happy medium. The only other observation I would make is if this were a normal meeting we would be able to adjourn and speak with the proponent and see if there was any negotiation possible, but we can't so we're now in this position so thank you.
Thank you councillor Hurd, any other councillors wishing to speak to this item before I return to the mover? Councillor Hollingsworth, oh before you do speak councillor Hollingsworth we have a late gesture from councillor Healey. Sorry for my late indication can you hear me? Yes. Look I'll be voting against this because I think to reduce the number of children on site is a poor outcome in our community and I think it would be better for us to go if this motion fails it would be better for us to go back to the original motion and leave it with and try it again because I honestly feel that the original motion is the best motion and it is a compromise given the aspects of this. The residential interface of this particular site is very small and as such I don't think there are a lot of residents that will be impacted by this in any particular way that they're not already impacted by. So for those reasons um I'll be voting against the present motion and would foreshadow to go and try the original motion again should this fail thank you.
Thank you councillor Healey I believe councillor Parke. Thank you chair I was just going to pick up on the indication by councillor Addis that she'd entertain her some sort of a halfway point I mean I'm willing to move an amendment to this but the difficulty is because I'd you know I the other option is that this as councillor Healey suggested gets defeated again but I wonder if I don't want to just uh move an amendment that that then still can't garner majority support but I wonder if for the sake of saving time whether there might be some possibility of uh I mean I'm I suppose what I'm saying is I'm of a similar mind to councillor Addis but I don't know what number ought to be put on things so my endeavour is to try and avoid us being back to round three here.
Thank you councillor Parke just before I pass to you councillor Watson I'm just going to seek from councillor Hollingsworth a willingness to make an amendment to her current alternative motion and councillor Parke you might seek to give some guidance I know officers did include a dispensation of one car parking space of 109 or 2 car parking spaces of 113. Councillor Hollingsworth are you would you be amenable to.
Thank you mr chair um I would because I do actually want to support the application I hope it is successful but I do believe it's important to get the right balance of the car park per child ratio because of the fact that the school is using a shared road access into this and there's going to be a lot of parents and carers competing for car park particularly at that drop off time in the morning so yes I would support what councillor Parke has suggested. Councillor Hollingsworth before you disappear do you have a number in mind we've got uh 113 which is two car parking spaces or one car parking spaces at 109. Look I would like to say the removal of two, sorry to consider the two car parks but if there's the majority support for one I would also support that. Could you just confirm if there was dispensation for one car park that would be 113 children maximum enrolment is that correct? So mr Mitchell.
Thanks through you mr chair that's right so if we reduced the reduction from three down to two we're looking at a cap of 113 children. If we're looking to reduce the reduction being sought from three down to one we're looking at 109 children thank you. Look I would support the first option to cap it to cap 113 children because I believe going from the original 120 children that was first requested in the application by reducing that by 7 children to 113 I believe that would achieve quite a significant result. Okay we might just see if councillor Addis are you happy to also accept that as the if you were previous seconder weren't you Councillor Addis are you happy to, sorry can we just get your microphone on. Thank you chair yes I am happy to accept the figure of 113.
Thank you and if we can able to get that up on the screen if that's possible. Okay so this alternate motion for approval by councillor Hollingsworth seconded by councillor Addis the number of child places reduced to a maximum of 113 children planning permit condition 21 as amended to reflect the above. Councillor Hollingsworth just to confirm that is your motion and councillor Addis you are happy to second one. Yes mr chair. Yes chair thank you. Thank you and to assist councillor Hollingsworth again is there any opposition to this item. Councillor Wegman and councillor Hurd. Thank you councillor Hollingsworth do you seek to speak to this again?
Just briefly mr chair I just want to thank councillor Parke and councillor Addis for putting forward the recommendation to consider middle ground and I also wanted to acknowledge the comments of councillor Healey and look I do agree there is an urgent need Hawthorn is one of the largest growth areas if not the largest growth area of Boroondara, but the one point councillor Healey made with regard to tram access I don't believe assists in this situation because most parents taking children to child care would be armed with quite a lot of equipment whether it be nappy bags clothing bags pushers pram strollers it's a challenge often to get into daycare tram isn't always the best option. I think typically most parents would drive those fortunate enough to live within walking distance could walk but I think the vast majority would drive and I believe that this is a fair and balanced outcome that will enable the project to proceed thank you.
Thank you councillor Hollingsworth. Council Addis do you wish to speak now or reserve your rights? No I have nothing I need to say thank you chair. Thank you councillor Addis any other councillors wishing to speak to this item. I have councillor Hurd. Councillor Hurd. If we can just unmute Councillor Hurd. Okay thank you as the ward councillor I will reluctantly support this I think it's more posturing than helpful because I just don't think this is going to make any difference and I think we might have been able to negotiate something better but I'll support it I appreciate the context but as I said I really don't think this is you know going to make I think officers have done a great job and thank you to them.
Thank you again councillor Hurd. Any other councillors wishing to speak to this item this evening before I return to the mover. Councillor Hollingsworth. Thank you mr chair I just like to thank everyone for their participation in the conversation and would like to close also in thanking the officers. I understand this has been 14 months in the planning and a lot of consultation and response and I'm pleased that this resolution hopefully will be supported and the project can proceed thank you. Thank you councillor Hollingsworth I will now put this motion and individually ask each counsellor if they're in favour. Councillor Hollingsworth, yes. Councillor Addis, yes. Councillor Ross, yes. Councillor Sinfield, yes. Councillor Parke, yes chair. Councillor Wegman, no. Councillor Healey, reluctantly yes. Councillor Hurd, reluctantly yes. And I declare that I also am in favour of this so I declare this motion has passed. Chair. Yes. Sorry chair to interrupt but you didn't ask me for my vote. Oh councillor Watson. Thank you chair I support the motion. Thank you councillor Watson you must have dropped off the screen then for a minute. I still declare that that motion is carried thank you councillors.
Move on to the next item of business which is item 3.4 VCAT decisions and decisions under delegation January 2020. This will be introduced by mr Simon Mitchell manager of statutory planning. Thank you mr chair so this report sets out the delegated planning decisions made and the vcat decisions received during January and the officer recommendation is that the report be received and noted thank you. Thank you mr Mitchell. We do have a question from councillor Ross, I don't have a question but I’m happy to foreshadow moving a motion when the time is appropriate. Thank you. Any questions from councillors, there appears to be none. Councillor Ross.
Thank you mr chair as you can see from this report there were 93 applications which were decided in the month of January and there are also seven vcat decisions but I draw your attention to one vcat decision in particular which is 368 Auburn Road. 368 Auburn Road might trigger some memories with people because this particular property was demolished just before Christmas. This was one of the properties which was allowed to be demolished because it fitted into the planning minister's loophole that was that this property was allowed to be demolished in Boroondara, had this property been in any other municipality in the state it would not have been able to have been demolished.
And as you can see from this particular planning application this application now that vcat has approved 17 dwellings with a basement. Obviously we're grateful that the minister did remove Boroondara's special amendment which allowed this type of thing to happen but we have lost a heritage property in Hawthorn because of this amendment and because of this amendment we will now have 17 dwellings with the basement. I just wanted to draw everybody's attention to that vcat decision that took place in January just a short while after the house was demolished.
Thank you councillor Ross I believe I need a seconder for your motion is there a councillor prepared to second I think councillor Addis you may have just snuck in there. Councillor Addis is a seconder do you wish to speak to the motion. Sorry Councillor Addis just your microphone. To support what councillor Ross said and to thank the officers. Thank you councillor Addis, any other councillors seeking to speak to this item, there appears to be none. Councillor Ross. I think I've said everything thank you mr chair. Thank you thank you Councillor Ross I will now put this motion through each councillors individually starting with councillor Sinfield do you support this motion? Yes I do chair. Thank you councillor Sinfield. Councillor Watson, yes chair I support the motion. Councillor Parke, yes chair. Councillor Ross, yes mr chair. Councillor Wegman, yes. Councillor Hollingsworth, yes. Councillor Healey, that was a yes mr chair I saw the language. Councillor Addis, yes chair. And I also declare that I'm supporting this motion so I declare the motion carried unanimously thank you councillors. You didn't ask me. Oh councillor Hurd I do apologize these um videos are jumping all around the place apologies councillor Hurd. Yes I support the motion. Thank you councillor Hurd I again declare this motion carried unanimously thank you councillors. Um we live in a virtual world at the moment and you're all moving around my screen.
We'll move on to item 3.5 vcat decisions and decisions under delegation February 2020 again introduced by mr Mitchell Manager of statutory planning. Thanks thank you mr chair through you so this is a similar report it's the delegated decisions made during February and the vcat decisions that have been received for the same month and the recommendation again is that the report be received and noted. Thank you mr Mitchell. And councillors any questions of the officers, there appears to be none. I'm in search of a motion, councillor Parke, seconded Councillor Healey. Councillor Parke. The officer's recommendation, yes correct. Thank you and councillor Healey as seconder. Yes mr chair. Are any other councillors seeking to speak to this item otherwise I'll pass to councillor Parke. No.
I will now put this motion to the vote starting with councillor Hurd you're the first on my screen this time councillor Hurd are you in favour, yes chair I'm in favour. Thank you. Councillor Addis, yes chair in favour. Councillor Ross, yes in favour. Councillor Sinfield, yes I'm in favour. Councillor Parke, yes chair. Councillor Watson, yes chair. Councillor Wegman, yes. Councillor Hollingsworth, yes chair. And no other councillors I haven't asked so I'm also in favour I declare that carried.
We'll move onto item 3.6 VCAT decisions and delegations, decisions under delegation March 2020 again mr Mitchell will introduce this item. Thank you mr chair again this is the this report sets out the decisions made under delegation and the vcat decisions received during March and the recommendation again is to receive and note thank you. Thank you mr Mitchell. Councillors any questions. Councillor Hollingsworth is that a question. so supporting the motion when the time's right. I believe that might be the time Councillor Hollingsworth and council Ross as the seconder thank you. Any councillors wishing to speak to this item. Councillor Hollingsworth.
Thank you mr chair just looking at the report considering that we've been going through coronavirus pandemic it's incredible to see that 84 applications were processed under delegation whether it was notice of decision refusing or permit granted I think it's an amazing achievement considering the complexities of working remotely and processing applications and also the fact that there is 10 VCAT results in March as well which is wonderful to see so whilst we always don't get the outcome we anticipate nonetheless the applications have been processed so I just wanted to thank mr Mitchell and his department.
Thank you councillor Hollingsworth I will now put this motion to the vote. Councillor Ross, in favour. Thank you. Councillor Parke, in favour chair. Councillor Sinfield, in favour chair. Councillor Healey. Councillor Wegman, yes. Councillor Watson, in favour chair. Councillor Addis, in favour chair. Councillor Hurd, yes I'm in favour. Thank you and councillor Hollingsworth, yes Mr Chair. And I am also in favour I'll declare that motion carried unanimously thank you councillors.
Move on to item four general business councillors are there any items of general business. There appears to be no items of general business. Item five items of urgent business are there any items of urgent business, there appears to be no items of urgent business. Confidential business, are there any items are confidential, there appears to be none. Well thank you to the members of the community who viewed this evening online for the first time in the city of Boroondara's history. I do declare that this first virtual meeting of the urban planning special meeting is closed. Thank you for your attendance thank you officers and thank you all councillors.