1        The proposed project is located in Wheelers Hill, which is defined in M2030 as a Neighbourhood Activity Centre. M2030 does encourage higher density housing in and around Neighbourhood Centres. However it also specifies that such housing “should be designed to fit the context and enhance the character of the area while providing a variety of housing options for different types of households”. (Melbourne 2030, October 2004, p. 49)

2        The proposed project will provide additional options but does not “fit the context” or “enhance the character of the area.”

3        The character of the area is low density suburbia. It is notable for its leafy aspect. In this aspect it conforms with a “garden city” character which the Monash City planning scheme asserts is central to the spirit of the municipality and which the planning scheme is designed to enhance. The garden city character is a product of the individual actions of residents. For the most part, each contributes to the overall neighbourhood character through their private planting of canopy trees and shrubs. Their individual contributions add up to an attractive collective outcome which is highly prized by the residents. As was noted in the Technical Report on Heritage prepared as a background paper prior to the publication of M2030, “ It is arguable – and certainly many of the public responses to Melbourne Strategy consultation make this point – that Melbourne’s relatively low density suburbs of detached houses and garden settings are its most distinctive and valuable asset. These suburbs are also the site of most contestation over heritage, character and development”. (Protecting Heritage in a changing Melbourne, Integrating Heritage into the Melbourne Strategy, Report to the Department of Infrastructure, June 2001. p. 13)

4        The insertion of a nine storey apartment building in the midst of this garden city neighbourhood will constitute a dramatic and jarring contrast. Should the project come to fruition it will provide a stunning view (for the occupants) of the Dandenong Valley and distant hills as well as of the leafy suburbia surrounding the building. In effect the developers will be privatising and selling this view to the new residents. They are “cherry picking” one of the best sites in the district for such an outlook. But their action can be likened to the construction of a multi storey apartment block next to Melbourne’s Botanic Gardens. The new apartment dwellers would enjoy a splendid view and no doubt pay handsomely for the privilege. But the surrounding residents, as well as the millions of visitors to the Gardens, would be deprived because of the visual intrusion of the apartment block into their vision of the Gardens. Likewise, the surrounding residents of the proposed Wheelers Hill block will have their vision of their neighbourhood and of the Dandenong Valley and hills beyond changed dramatically for the worst.

5        Should this Wheelers Hill project be allowed to proceed it will create an unfortunate precedent which may lay the foundation for similar projects. If so, the result would be a fundamental change to the character of Melbourne’s suburban neighbourhoods.

6        It may be argued that the proposed project will provide additional housing options of Monash City residents. However few current residents will be in a financial position to purchase apartments in the proposed Wheelers Hill block, or will want to move into a high-density apartment setting even if they could afford it. The cost of the apartments is likely to be well above the price of surrounding houses, thus inhibiting any prospective move. Also research conducted by my Centre on the movement patterns of households in Melbourne shows that the older the household head the lower is the propensity to move from their existing detached house.

7        There may be some limited demand for high rise apartments in the suburbs. However M2030 wishes to locate such demand within Principal of Major Activity Centres where there is a close articulation with public transport and employment. If the M2030 compact city aspiration is to be achieved it would be counter productive to allow the construction of high density apartments outside such Activity Centres. It is anticipated that when Monash City completes its strategy planning for Glen Waverley, Mount Waverley and Pinewood Activity Centre sites that there will be ample provision of high density apartments within the municipality.