Sarah Oliver
Melton South residents can expect a new, three-story residential apartment building after the council unanimously approved a planning application.
At a meeting on February 7, council members voted to approve of the building which will consist of 18 apartments.
There will be varied floor plans, including 12 one-bedroom apartments, two two-bedroom apartments and four two-bedroom apartments with an additional study in a double-storey terrace style.
Councillor Sophie Ramsay said the application had changed from the initial plans, which consisted of four storeys and 22 apartments.
But Cr Ramsay wanted more clarification on how the design will impact the suburb.
“What’s been happening in Melton South has always been a little bit lacklustre in design. It’s always been a little bit cookie cutter and the quality of the developments have never been anything to write home about,” she said.
“I would actually class some of them as poor.”
Cr Ramsay asked coordinator statutory planning Steve Finlay if there’s a way to ensure the building “is more state of the art”.
“A little bit more…something we can all be proud of that sets the trend for the next ten, 15,20 years of development,” she said.
Mr Finlay said the council officers and urban planners have worked very closely with the applicant to get the proposal to the point that it is now and “are happy with what’s proposed in terms of the contemporary design and the various materials that are being used in the construction of the development”.
There were seven objections to the planning application, including that the proposal fails to achieve a height and scale that is in keeping with the character of the area.
However, council officers said: “the form of the development proposed may generally be different to the building stock in the neighbourhood, it is noteworthy that respecting neighbourhood character does not mean replicating what exists”.
