‘Watershed moment’: 14-storey tower in Frankston’s Great Wall gets green light

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Victoria’s readying tribunal has approved a arguable 14-storey flat operation successful Frankston, which volition signifier a large portion of the suburb’s alleged Great Wall of high-rise improvement overlooking Port Phillip Bay.

The determination is simply a stroke to residents who mounted a fierce situation to the development, arguing it would predominate the skyline.

The agelong of onshore betwixt Kananook Creek and Nepean Highway is the centre of a large readying quality successful Frankston.

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal connected Friday approved the luxury Harbour operation by developer Urban DC, which volition person 94 apartments and a ground-level cafe.

The determination comes aft a long-running combat implicit tallness limits on a agelong of onshore bordered by Nepean Highway, Kananook Creek Boulevard, and Beach and Wells streets successful Frankston. A abstracted but adjoining luxury flat gathering of a akin tallness has besides been projected for the area.

Community activists down the Stop the Great Wall of Frankston run argued the residential operation proposals were an unacceptable departure from humanities assembly plans and would divided the country successful two.

Opposition to the improvement was strongest connected “Long Island”, a constrictive portion of onshore betwixt the foreshore and Kananook Creek, which residents of the 2 towers volition look down upon.

The projected gathering sites connected Nepean Highway successful Frankston.

In its decision, the tribunal acknowledged the flat building’s tallness and standard would marque it “highly visible” to Long Island residents, but said the ocular interaction would not beryllium “unreasonable”.

Long Island Residents Group caput Jenny Faulkner said she was shocked by the determination and was adamant the tribunal had made the incorrect call.

“It’s conscionable truly disappointing to a batch of the assemblage that emotion Frankston and truly admit what it has to offer,” she said.

But Urban DC proprietor Danny Ciarma said the tribunal ruling was a watershed infinitesimal for Frankston and would amended the scope of lodging options disposable to buyers.

“Developers volition person confidence. Buyers volition person confidence,” helium said. “I’ve been inundated by calls from buyers.”

Members of the “Stop the Great Wall of Frankston” assemblage run extracurricular the tract of 1 of the projected towers.

Ciarma rejected opponents’ criticisms that his task was excessively exposed to rising oversea levels and inundation, arguing it was connected higher crushed than galore different properties successful lower-lying parts of Frankston.

The tribunal noted Frankston City Council had already approved an 11-storey mixed-use improvement conscionable northbound of the Harbour building’s projected site, truthful “considered the amenity impacts connected the adjoining residential area” arsenic acceptable.

“We enactment that assembly has already approved a gathering of akin tallness and standard and frankincense considered the amenity impacts connected the adjoining residential country is acceptable,” the tribunal stated.

In July, Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny announced a prohibition connected buildings supra 3 storeys on a cardinal agelong of the Nepean Highway successful Frankston, earlier reversing the determination 3 months later.

When the prohibition expired successful October past year, recently gazetted readying controls stated determination was a “preferred” 12-storey tallness bounds connected the strip.

Frankston Mayor Nathan Conroy praised the tribunal decision, saying the improvement would marque a invited summation to Frankston.

He said businesses successful Frankston’s cardinal concern territory were starved of ft postulation and desperately needed much customers. Conroy said the Harbour improvement besides supply greater lodging diversity, which was overmuch needed.