VCAT Hall of Fame: Overdevelopment #1
In 2011 a VCAT determination allowed the development of 10 dwellings at 232 Settlement Road in Cowes.
Planning: our future
In this second last week of our planning series we look at planning from both an objector and developers’ perspective, battles, failures and controversies.
VCAT hall of fame
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) is the state body that makes rulings on planning disputes, aiming to find common ground between objectors, developers and the shire.
There are numerous examples over the past decade of VCAT battles, showing developers often but don’t always win, and ultimately – and critically – VCAT is guided by our local policies.
OVERDEVELOPMENT #1
In 2011 councillors were unimpressed with a VCAT determination that allowed the development of 10 dwellings at 232 Settlement Road in Cowes.
Councillors refused to support the application, on the basis that it was an overdevelopment of the site, and because of the continuous mass of building extending along the site.
The council decision was overturned by VCAT, which commented that while a continuous length of wall was not likely to be appropriate in a conventional residential area of the Cowes township, the site was within the Cowes commercial area activity zone, and was a designated area for a more intensive residential development.
Councillors, while opposing the level of density the decision would allow, realised the structure plan adopted by them the previous year was what had allowed the development to happen.
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