Plans to build four two-storey townhouses on a single block in South Kingsville have been knocked back by the state’s planning tribunal.
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) has refused to grant a permit to Dajvis Andonov for 34 Saltley Street, saying although subdivision was common, the applicant was trying to put too much on one site.
Hobsons Bay council had refused to grant a permit based on neighbourhood character and lack of sunlight in private open space for future residents at the site.
VCAT member Bill Sibonis said the applicant had correctly noted there were many examples of two-storey dwellings in the neighbourhood.
“It appears to be emerging as a preferred form of medium-density housing,” Mr Sibonis said.
“In Saltley Street, however, the original, modest housing stock predominates. The prevailing scale in this section of the street is single storey.”
He said this did not mean a two-storey development could or should not be approved for the site, but it needed to be designed in a way that fitted the “low-profile nature of the streetscape”.
Mr Sibonis said the council’s concerns were justified about lack of sunlight for the building’s private open space.
He said it might be an indication the applicant was trying to accommodate too many buildings on the block.
