A Williamstown resident has warned that plans to demolish two houses for a 39-dwelling, three-storey apartment block will create a “future slum”.
Probus Built has applied to Hobsons Bay council for a planning permit for the apartment development at 25-27 Champion Road in Williamstown North.
No. 25 is currently a double-storey weather- board house and No. 27 is a single-storey brick dwelling.
Objector Trevor Smith said the apartment block was an overdevelopment for the site.
“Existing infrastructure at Williamstown North railway intersection is already unmanageable and with sensitive oil and underground gas pipes along Champion Road there are major risks,” he said.
“As a galvanised community, we have to say ‘no’. Stop this slum before it starts.”
Mr Smith said precedent had already been set with other developments in Hobsons Bay, opening lucrative floodgates for developers to do as they pleased.
Hansen Partnership, acting for the developer, declined to respond to accusations that its plans represented an overdevelopment.
But its social impact assessment prepared for the council states that its development is in line with state planning policy objectives of providing affordable housing. It cited 2011 census data showing Hobsons Bay was in the top 40 per cent of Victorian municipalities for socio-economic disadvantage.
“When assessing Hobsons Bay, Williamstown North received a socio-economic disadvantage score of 1508, which subsequently placed it in the top 23 per cent of Hobsons Bay,” Hansen’s report states.
Hansen estimated the average price per dwelling could be about $525,000, with the overall development expected to house up to 98 people. The plans show parking for 43 vehicles and 13 bike racks.
