VCAT backs developer

Three-storey Esplanade building approved

A THREE-STOREY building will go up on The Esplanade in Torquay after the state’s planning tribunal gave a green light for the project.

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal this month overruled the Surf Coast Shire, which had previously blocked the proposal at 42 The Esplanade amid concerns it was too tall and bulky.

The approval allows for a mixed-use premises containing eight apartments, a retail shop and a food and drink outlet. The decision to grant a permit comes as the State Government makes moves to restrict building height limits in Torquay.

Prior to the November state election, Labor revealed it wanted buildings capped at two storeys along The Esplanade, with three storeys only allowed along the Gilbert St shopping precinct.

But the process to draw up a statement of planning policy — which will be underpinned by community consultation — is unlikely to be finalised before mid-2020. In recent months, the Greater Torquay Alliance lobby group has been urging the State Government to set a moratorium on developments that do not fit within Labor’s planned restrictions.

But GT Alliance president Andrew Cherubin said the pleas had fallen on deaf ears.

“Words are being touted that Torquay doesn’t want to be another Gold Coast,” he said. “Obviously height limits are going to be set. If that’s going to happen in a few months, why not put a moratorium on anyone who wants to do anything that doesn’t fit in the guidelines?

“That’s our view, because whatever the outcome of that process, it would be fair for the community — as well as developers — to simply wait.

“Otherwise there is a possibility that people are going to jump in early, even with ambiguous proposals, just to keep it live so they can bypass the possibility of not being allowed to do it in the future.”

Mr Cherubin said his group did not oppose development on the site at The Esplanade, but that it shared Surf Coast Shire’s concerns regarding the size and bulk of the proposal.

“The disappointing thing for Torquay is the architecture,” he said.

“You go to places like Barwon Heads where architects seem to draw from those locations and create much more sympathetic buildings.

“There seems to be an attitude in Torquay where they come in and just want to build big ugly boxes that don’t fit with the town and its beach culture at all.”

In their ruling, VCAT members Michael Nelthorpe and Stephen Axford found the building height complied with the planning scheme and that its impact on the streetscape was acceptable. The permit requires the development to start within two years.