A seven-storey apartment block that will directly overlook single-storey homes in Werribee has been given the green light.
Wyndham council has granted a planning application for the multi-storey development on Bridge Street that is slated to have more than 70 apartments, a cafe and retail premises.
The original application was for an eight-storey development, but the council amended the plans and moved carparking to an underground basement to reduce the height of the building as part of a suite of changes to address setback and overshadowing concerns.
The council received at least 24 formal objections to the original proposal and a petition signed by 120 people opposing the development, which will overlook single-storey houses on McDonald Street and neighbouring streets.
Cr Mia Shaw said she had mixed feelings about the development’s scale, but that the planning application met statutory requirements.
“Yet, as acknowledged on the front page of the officer’s report, the proposal responds less well to policy seeking a transition to the lower densities of adjoining residentially zoned land,” she said.
“I have not come to my view quickly or easily … as a local resident myself, having grown up in Wyndham, it can be difficult to comprehend the changes we are now seeing across our city.
“I do welcome appropriate and sustained development and this is certainly needed in our CBD, but I still have broader concerns about transition issues.”
Cr Josh Gilligan said the amendments took into account community concerns.
“Given the population pressures and the importance of our activity centre, going up will be the way we’re going for now and into the future,” he said.
McDonald Street resident Maria Battaglia, who led the charge against the development, said that while she was grateful the council had listened to resident concerns, she didn’t feel the development had been addressed.
Ms Battaglia believes the decision will set a precedent for high-rise planning applications on the fringes of the Werribee CBD.
“It’s still an enormous building that will have a big impact visually,” she said.
