Local residents rally against new apartments

West Melbourne residents have voiced their concerns over the construction of multi-storey residential apartment block.

The City of Melbourne has approved the demolition of existing buildings at 205-211 Roden and 218-228 Stanley streets in West Melbourne to make way for the construction of 50 apartments in blocks up to five storeys high.

The site will include 130 sqm of commercial space at ground level, 58 car spaces and 49 bike spaces, with demolition scheduled to take place in the coming months.

Developer Development Ready will retain and integrate the heritage building fronting Stanley St, while architect Point Architects said the design respected the “human-scale” of the surrounding streetscape.

But some locals in the area are far from convinced.

Gail Jackson who lives next to the proposed site on Roden St claimed she and her husband were left in the dark about the application.

“We don’t know much about the building because [the] council hasn’t put notices on our side of the street. It’s been underhanded – the first we knew about it was drilling on the site,” she said.

This is not the first time nearby residents in West Melbourne have opposed a block of apartments on the site.

Roden St resident Steve Harris said a group of his neighbours at a nearby town house complex had recently fought off a 10-storey apartment building.

“We were very involved in defeating the first which was shocking and hopeless,” he said.

“The last one was a really bad design.”

Another local, Sarah Wallace, flagged several concerns about the new proposal, including poor-quality construction problems plaguing new high-rise developments.

“Any sane person living in Australia today would not be contemplating investing their hard-earned life savings or risk to their own personal safety in a recently constructed high-rise apartment for fear of bad-quality construction materials used and poor-quality workmanship,” Ms Wallace commented on the Planning Alerts website.

Ms Wallace suggested low-rise developments – comprised of single- and double-storey dwellings on Roden St – were the best option and argued low-scale Victorian houses in the area at least afforded renters their own backyards for gardening.
“No, this not just one individual ‘crying wolf’,” Ms Wallace said.

“The ongoing poor-quality construction problems have been hanging around the high-rise apartment development industry for a few years now and it’s not associated with one or two apartment developers, it’s running through it like a stinking infected melanoma.”

In response to the concerns posed by nearby residents, a council spokesperson said a notice of proposal was sent by mail to owners and occupiers of surrounding properties, with signage posted on the Roden and Stanley street frontages for a 14-day period in accordance with the Planning and Environment Act 1987. 

“Planning officers found the development presented an acceptable response to design objectives and built form requirements. The application was for a mixed-use, multi-storey development that respects the scale of neighbouring properties and provides an appropriate transition to the adjoining heritage buildings and streetscape,” the spokesperson said.

“A traffic impact report prepared for the application found increased traffic volumes due to the development can be safely accommodated within the surrounding road network. A total of 58 spaces are included as part of the development.” •