Update on Mount Waverley building site

Published on 04 September 2015

It took nearly four weeks, about 2,000 truck deliveries, and about 16,000 cubic metres of fill.

That's what was needed to backfill the hole at the Mount Waverley building site where there were landslips in mid-July. Backfilling of the site (on the corner of Highbury and Huntingdale Roads) was completed on 1 September 2015.

The site is now stable, so the 'emergency' status that was placed on the site in July was removed on Thursday 3 September 2015.

Next steps

The condition of the townhouse on the edge of the site is yet to be assessed. This is because it has not yet been deemed safe for Council's Municipal Building Surveyors to enter. Once it is deemed safe, our Surveyors will enter and make an assessment of what works are required to make the townhouse safe for occupation.

In regards to future construction on the building site, the site's owner/builder will need to work with authorities (including WorkSafe) to determine how and when construction works can begin again.

The Victorian Building Authority is investigating why the landslips occurred. Once their investigation is completed, the findings will be made public.

The building permit for the site was issued by a private building surveyor not by Council. This meant that the private building surveyor was responsible for ensuring works met the conditions and specifications of the building permit and that the works were consistent with the planning permit.

Council hopes that the eventual findings of the investigation will be studied by the Victorian building industry and all relevant authorities so that this incident is never repeated.

There are no further community meetings scheduled on this matter at this time. Since mid-July, six community meetings have been held so local residents could be updated. The meetings were held on Saturday 5 September, Saturday 22 August, Wednesday 12 August, Saturday 1 August, Wednesday 22 July and Saturday 18 July. 

Evacuated residents

Council worked with welfare agencies to assist the 12 residents who were evacuated from the two townhouses next to the development site. On behalf of these residents, Council contacted the Salvation Army which provided the residents with short-term grants for food and other essentials. Council also put the residents in touch with Uniting Care Harrison, which has assisted them to find alternative accommodation.

Background

In 2014, Council approved a planning permit for the site to allow for a three storey building, with basement car parking. The building is to include a medical centre, child care centre and nine dwellings.

After receiving a planning permit from Council, the developer then sourced a building permit from a private building surveyor. Under Victorian law, people have the choice to source building permits from either councils or from private building surveyors.

If a permit is sought from a private building surveyor, the private building surveyor then becomes responsible for ensuring the site is safe and built according to the conditions and specifications of the building permit and the planning permit.