DEVELOPERS have lodged new plans for an idle Bendigo church two years after losing a fight over designs for the site.
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They have asked the City of Greater Bendigo's permission for 14 homes at the former All Saints' Anglican Church grounds on the corner of Forest and MacKenzie streets.
That includes converting church structures into seven homes and adding another seven townhouses in the rest of the grounds.
Redevelopment plans have at times been controversial.
Planning umpire the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal knocked back designs in 2020 despite support from the council.
VCAT had worried a series of new buildings would dominate the historic church and other nearby buildings.
Some buildings had "not [been] designed to be visually 'less prominent' than the Church or adjoining Master's Residence," tribunal member Tracey Bilston-McGillen had said.
She also raised concerns about access to the site and the potential for nearby businesses' operations to be affected if the noise they made carried into new residents' homes.
A building that was originally planned will not rise to stop the development dominating views of historic Bendigo, and there are new heights and setbacks for two proposed houses on MacKenzie Street.
An existing cream-brick section of the church would now be kept.
Developers are considering an iron shingle roof system for the church similar to those found in historic records.
Audio experts employed by the developer have concluded noise from surrounding businesses and streets would not affect residents' amenity with the right designs and systems in place.
The new proposal would "not unreasonably encumber or impede the function of the surrounding live music venues", the experts said.
Developers' traffic engineers have assessed plans for the proposed basement where residents would park. They have confirmed it complies with the planning scheme.
The church is the oldest in Bendigo and the property has been a significant part of the community since the 1850s.
It has become a target for vandalism in recent years.
In one incident, a vandal appeared to have used a chainsaw to enter the building.
In another, someone appeared to have started a fire.
Developers have also found squatters at the property.
They have since taken steps to better secure the site but have warned that risks remain as long as it remains idle, with no approved planning permissions.
"Someone has to be using it, if it's not in productive use then these things happen such as vandalism," they said in 2021.
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Tom O'Callaghan
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
