‘What will it do?’ School campus high-rise apartments face backlash

A proposal for thousands of apartments in Melbourne’s east has sparked fierce community backlash over height and transparency concerns, after the 10-hectare Burwood site was earmarked for up to 3000 new homes.

The prime real estate is currently part of Mount Scopus Memorial College’s Burwood campus, but is set to be divested when the school shifts to Caulfield in coming years.

Located along Burwood Highway, next to Deakin University and opposite a future Suburban Rail Loop station, the land falls under the state government’s Development Facilitation Program Unlocking Strategic Sites scheme, which allows for fast-track residential developments with 10 per cent affordable housing.

While there is limited detail publicly available about the site’s future, residents surrounding the school have mixed opinions on the proposal for the land showing thousands of apartments. The tallest building currently in the immediate area, at Deakin University, is fewer than 10 storeys tall.

Though the school insists the highest building would be no more than 20 storeys, Whitehorse Council released a proposal provided to the government in April that included two options – one catering for about 4500 people in 2500 homes, and the other for 9000 people in up to 4200 homes, which was accompanied by an image of the “maximum development scenario” depicting high-rise buildings of up to 45 storeys.

At a press conference on April 12, Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny announced the site would hold up to 3000 homes.

When contacted by this masthead, a Department of Transport and Planning spokesperson said the council had made an error and tabled a previous iteration of the masterplan.

But Whitehorse Mayor Kirsten Langford said a proposal referring to heights of up to 45 storeys remained on a state government portal accessed by the council.

Langford said council, which does not have planning control over the land, does not oppose greater density but is concerned about insufficient consultation, potential building heights and scale, and access to open spaces, schools, healthcare and other services to support that level of population influx.

“Pretty concerned that there’s a proposed 45-storey tower and an estimated 9000 new residents, which is probably, we believe, excessive to the site,” she said.

Langford said the council had received little information about the proposal, had two weeks to respond in February and is seeking more information.

“Questions regarding up-to-date plans raise an issue of transparency around the entire process. Those plans for the proposal aren’t publicly available,” she said.

Whitehorse councillors backed a motion criticising alleged misuse of the Development Facilitation Program, questioning why a proposal for the site was not part of Burwood SRL precinct consultation.

Residents surrounding the school had mixed opinions on plans for there to be thousands of apartments.

Local Colin Crotty supported the land being turned into low-density housing, but “not the 20 or the 40 [storeys] because then you’re making an estate within a low-rise area”.

John Bruce worried Burwood could gradually become a high-rise suburb like Box Hill and questioned how streets would cope with an “enormous” amount of new traffic.

“What does it mean to an area like this? It’s a quiet suburban street; what will it do to that?” he said.

However, Loki McCallum said it would be great to have more homes in the pocket as it is close to public transport. “The more housing the better. I would like to be able to buy a house one day,” McCallum said.

A spokesperson for Mount Scopus said consultation would start in the next month.

RMIT University urban planning and sustainability lecturer Liam Davies said concerns about amenity to cater for a large population influx could be addressed with high-quality development.

“It’s a bit of a concern that all of this work has been going into the Suburban Rail Loop precinct planning and that we now have proposals that are for areas that weren’t included,” he said.

YIMBY Melbourne organiser Jonathan O’Brien said the site was ideal for a large development.

“Local control leads to metropolitan decline, and so what we need to see actually is more homes being built in more councils,” he said.

A Department of Transport and Planning spokesperson said the strategic sites program is about unlocking idle land and any proposal would be considered on merit, but it would be inappropriate to comment further as the project is in the pre-application stage.

Minister Kilkenny said in April that plans for development-ready land could be tied up with councils for up to two years and the aim is to cut that waiting time in half.

Whitehorse is not the only council with concerns about the Unlocking Strategic Sites program, which includes plans for homes on land previously occupied by a Bunnings and a radio station.

A Wodonga Council spokesperson said the push to develop Wodonga Golf Course land caused concern among the community and the council was not consulted before an announcement it would be included in the program.

Mitchell Shire isn’t aware of opportunities to provide feedback on plans for Kilmore racecourse land and wants to be part of decision-making over the site, chief executive Mary Agostino said.

Darebin Council broadly supports plans for two sites within the municipality but flagged concerns there has been no announcement for public transport upgrades nearby.

The City of Greater Bendigo supports plans for a Golden Square site as it was already identified in its growth strategies.

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