Project: Renovation of Dwelling in Heritage Overlay
Municipality: City of Melbourne
Designer: Maxa Design
This was an ambitious project. The client’s wished to retain much of the fabric of a period home, insert a sizeable extension to the rear of the house and find space for on-site parking. Clause:1 needed to apply specialist knowledge of the Planning Scheme to ensure a positive outcome at Council and to avoid a potential objector appeal at VCAT.
When advertised, the application was met with staunch opposition from objectors. This had the potential to derail the project, or result in a blowout in timeframes if the application had been appealed by objectors to VCAT. After advertising, the most contentious elements of the development were removed from the proposal and a separate planning permit was sought for these elements, all of which were exempt from advertising. On approval of both permits, the result was a spacious, architecturally designed renovation delivered in a timely manner and without the risk of a costly VCAT appeal.