Approved development at 554-558 High Street Road, Mount Waverley

Submissions closed on 22 February 2021, 11:59 PM

Update - VCAT Approval

A VCAT hearing was held on 16 May 2022 regarding amended proposal on the land at 554-558 High Street Road, Mount Waverley.

The Tribunal issued its direction on the same day that a Permit is to be granted, subject to conditions. This includes modifications to the ground level premises fronting High Street Road.

For more information, please refer to the VCAT decision: 554-558 High Street Road, Mount Waverley(PDF, 241KB)

VCAT Amended Plan, October 2021

Amended plans were circulated as part of the developer's appeal to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) on a proposal at 554-558 High Street Road Mount Waverley.

These plans will be considered at the VCAT hearing.

The key changes of the amended plans are:

Removal of one storey- top level is replaced with a rooftop communal area.
Removal of the food and drink premises, the yoga/ meditation room and gym on ground level and replaced with additional apartments and bike and resident storage spaces.
Relocation of fire booster and additional landscaping on the ground floor frontage to High Street Road.
Replacement of the communal library and lounge with an open courtyard, lounge, activity room and meeting room.
Redesign of the communal open space on level 1.
Reduction of western setback of level 4 from 25.5m to 24.5m
Internal rearrangement of apartment layouts.
Ground floor finished floor levels increased from by 1.16m on the north elevation (with reduced floor to ceiling height) and the western boundary wall height increased by 700mm.
Alteration of materials and finishes including balustrades, facades and architectural elements.
Overall number of apartments increased from 88 to 97.
Overall on site car parking provision reduced from 91 (statutory shortfall of 2 spaces for the food and drink premises) to 75 (statutory shortfall of 23 spaces for the apartments).
Overall provision of bicycle spaces increased from 36 to 46 spaces.

Council’s position on this amended proposal remains unchanged. Council will argue against the proposed development plan at the VCAT hearing.

Please find below the application documents that were submitted by the applicant:

VCAT Form A(PDF, 174KB)

Statement of Changes(PDF, 160KB)

Amended Plans(PDF, 20MB)

Landscape Plan(PDF, 11MB)

Planning Report(PDF, 3MB)

Traffic Engineering Report(PDF, 7MB)

ESD Report(PDF, 6MB)

Transport Engineering Planning Referral(PDF, 30MB)

If you would like to become a party to the VCAT appeal, you will need to complete a Statement of Grounds Form via VCAT’s website: Statement of Grounds Planning

Statement of grounds were due to be submitted by 24 November 2021 and had to be filed with the Tribunal, Council and the Permit applicant.

Enquiries: Jeanny Lui, Principal Planner, on 9518 3494.

VCAT Appeal

The applicant has appealed to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) against Council's decision. A Compulsory Conference has been scheduled for 7 October 2021 and a two-day hearing will take place from 13 December 2021.

Council Refusal

Council has refused an application to amend Planning Permit TPA/49751 pursuant to Section 72 of the Planning and Environmental Act 1987 at 554-558 High Street Road, Mount Waverley.

Council sought community feedback and received two objections.

As part of its decision-making process, Council considered key issues such as internal amenity for new apartments, lack of landscaping opportunities along the High Street Road frontage and adverse impact to the streetscape of High Street Road.

Application for a planning permit amendment

Council sought community feedback on an application to amend Planning Permit TPA/49751A pursuant to Section 72 of the Planning and Environmental Act 1987 at 554-558 High Street Road Mount Waverley.

The application sought to amend the plans as follows:

Increase in apartment numbers from 79 to 88
Increase in car parking provision from 89 to 91
Increase in bicycle parking provision from 53 to 58
Reduce in food and drink premises floor area from 181sqm to 163sqm
Rearrangement of apartment layouts. Total number of 1-bedroom apartments increased from 18 to 33 and 2-bedroom apartments decreased from 61 to 55
Associated changes to building form and setbacks
Internal rearrangement of gym and concierge facilities

Planning documents

Here are the documents that were submitted by the applicant:

Certificate of Title(PDF, 3MB)

Copy of Planning Permit(PDF, 4MB)

VCAT Decision Plans(PDF, 37MB)

List of Amendments(PDF, 2MB)

Proposed Amended Plans(PDF, 50MB)

Proposed Landscape Plans(PDF, 19MB)

Traffic Report(PDF, 10MB)

Sustainability Management Plan(PDF, 11MB)

VCAT approval 2019

Council is disappointed with the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal's (VCAT) decision to grant a planning permit for the construction of a six to seven-storey building for the use of a retirement village at 554-558 High Street Road, Mount Waverley.

The applicant submitted amended plans for VCAT to consider as part of its decision making.

Changes on the amended plans included:

The total number of apartments reduced from 83 to 79 including:
- reducing the number of two-bedroom apartments from 64 to 61
- reducing the number of one-bedroom apartments from 19 to 18
Basement is setback 2m from the western boundary instead of building on the boundary, and the basement coverage reduced from 95% to 91%
Reduction in the car parking provision from 94 to 89 car parking spaces (including one car park for each apartment)
Modification to the internal layout of the proposal, architectural detailing, car parking provision/allocation

Council maintained its position of not supporting the proposed development throughout the VCAT process.

The permit conditions required by VCAT include the top two levels (levels 4 & 5) to be further setback 6m to the western boundary.

You can view VCAT's decision and conditions here: VCAT decision on 554-558 High Street Road, Mount Waverley(DOCX, 82KB)

VCAT appeal and amended plans

The applicant lodged a Failure to Determine appeal with VCAT. The matter was heard at a 4-day merits hearing commencing Monday 22 July 2019.

The applicant lodged amended plans with VCAT as part of their appeal. Please see the plans below:

Notice of Amendment(PDF, 128KB)

Statement of Changes(PDF, 130KB)

Amended Plans lodged with VCAT(PDF, 36MB)

Background

Council sought community feedback on a proposal for a six to seven -storey retirement village at 554-558 High Street Road (Mount Waverley).

This is the second application Council has received from this developer for this site.

The applicant, Pace Development Group Pty Ltd, proposed a $25 million development that included:

83 retirement village units/apartments (19 x 1 -bedroom & 64 x 2-bedroom)
Ground level food and drink premises (cafe)
93 onsite car spaces located within basement car park areas
Basement access via new vehicle crossover on High Street Road
Retirement village amenities including pool, gym, yoga room, library, games room and communal open space areas. These amenities will be for the use of residents only and will not be open to the public
Overall building height of up to seven storeys