AN application for a three-storey apartment block in Hoppers Crossing has been knocked back by Wyndham council.
Councillors voted on July 22 to refuse a planning permit for the Tarneit Road development, which would have comprised 30 units.
Council staff had recommended the application be rejected, saying it was an overdevelopment and did not fit in with the character of the neighbourhood. Twenty-one objections were received.
Cr Shane Bourke said the proposed development, near Good News Lutheran School and Bethany Road, would dramatically affect existing residents.
“Just because it is a big block, it doesn’t mean you can develop it,’’ he said. “I’d be horrified to think I would live next door to or behind 30 dwellings in a three-storey building.” Cr Bourke said neighbours could have to put up with “up to 60 cars coming and going, a whole lot of barking dogs and 30 lots of loud music”.
Cr Gautam Gupta said he couldn’t understand why builders thought such developments would be approved.
The council’s decision comes a month after the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal overturned its refusal to grant a permit for six townhouses in Hoppers Crossing.
As reported by the Weekly, the council labelled the development “one of the worst proposals” ever submitted and voted unanimously to reject the application.
However, the decision was reversed by VCAT on June 28, with member Rebecca Leshinsky criticising the council’s assessment of the planning application.
