A DEVELOPER’S bid for 29 low-cost units at Ascot has been knocked back by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
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But Ethan Affordable Housing will change its designs and hopes the new plans will be approved.
Ethan took the City of Greater Bendigo to VCAT after councillors voted against plans for the Howard Street development.
Council staff had recommended the development be approved, but the VCAT ruling noted concerns over draining, flooding, overdevelopment, traffic and parking.
Ethan chief Ashley Fenn said the city had lost a chance to have more affordable housing.
“It’s disappointing for the pensioners that were looking for safe and affordable accommodation,” he said.
“They’re effectively big losers.
“With the delay in the project, the net effect is that there’s not more affordable housing in Bendigo, which is disappointing.”
Mr Fenn said the redesigned development would have between 22 and 24 units with one or two bedrooms.
“We’re going through the process now of a quick redesign,” he said.
“We’ve taken on board VCAT’s concerns from the initial proposal.
“We’ve got to look at all the information on the flooding and different aspects of the project which we didn’t have when we first applied.
“We can now use all that information to redesign it and hopefully make everybody happy.”
Nearby resident Andrea Metcalf said she had spent about $7500 fighting the initial proposal with some support from others opposed to the project.
She said the developer had provided few details to the council and that opposition to the plans had nothing to do with affordable housing.
“We’ll probably need to have a look at the new plans,” she said.
“I’d need to talk to the others and see what the plans look like.”
About 20 people cheered at October’s council meeting when the planning application was knocked back.
Ms Metcalf said the project was in the wrong area and didn’t fit in with the council planning laws. ?