Queen's Commonwealth Games Baton Relay

In the afternoon of 14 March 2006 the Queen's Baton Relay passed our office and we were able to take some photographs of this special event. Please click here to see the photos.

Significant VCAT Decision

Barnes Planning represented the applicant in this recent matter through the submission of the initial planning application to the City of Boroondara and then through the provision of expert evidence at the Tribunal. Barnes Planning achieved a planning permit for this development and the Tribunal published its decision as a 'Red Dot' decision.

The Tribunal was very complimentary of the proposal and made some significant remarks regarding the design integrity of the proposal, its building articulation and driveway layout. The Tribunal's support for the proposal was especially pertinent given that Council was opposed to the application and initially refused it without advertising.

As reported in Planning News:

"The applicant in Desire Australia Pty Ltd v Boroondara City Council [2005] VCAT 2210 proposed three dual occupancies on three adjoining lots. Each lot was proposed to be developed with two double storey dwellings - one at the front and one to the rear of the lot. Each dwelling was to be provided with a double garage accessed from a common driveway extending along a side boundary of the lot.

The Tribunal found the design of the dwellings to be well resolved, and was complimentary about the building form, use of materials and building articulation. The side driveways (which had abutting landscaping along the fence line) were seen as essentially similar to the existing driveways.

The driveways, the Tribunal conceded, may be charged with being 'gun-barrel driveways'.

The Tribunal held, however, that sometimes a 'gun-barrel' style of driveways is appropriate.

The Tribunal said:

In recent decades the fashion for large box-like two-storey dwellings has resulted in community concern about mass and character. Responses to this concern include the encouragement of attic-style dwellings, or dwellings with first floors inset from the floors below. Simple design ideas such as this have led to improvements in the massing of two-storey dwellings within our neighbourhoods. However, when such ideas degenerate into simplistic concepts such as sheer two-storey walls are inappropriate or that the only appropriate solutions are attics, or first floor entirely inset from the floors below, then the ideas cease to be useful tools for the assessment of good design.

The same can be said for the accusation that a driveway is a gun barrel driveway. Long, pooly landscaped and harshly paved driveways can be an unattractive, and are pejoratively known as gun barrel driveways. On the other hand it is not universally true that all straight driveways exhibit this character.

In this case:

Response to neighbourhood character is of course an appropriate element in decision making. One hopes that it this factor is tempered with a desire to enhance as well as emulate the character."

Our senior planner Kevin Mithen was thrilled when the Sydney Swans made it into the AFL Grand Final.

After all, he had the honor of playing for South Melbourne himself along side the Great Bob Skilton.

Kevin has continued kicking goals, this time in the Planning Arena.

Early 2004 appears to be going reasonably well in terms of the level of development activity being proposed. The residential sector probably took a dip over several months but now seems back on track, whilst the commercial sector seems to have maintained momentum.

A couple of noteworthy matters to report at this stage are: