Green light for row of triple-storey homes in Doncaster

Six public objections and a petition with 28 signatures have failed to sway Manningham Council, which has approved a four-dwelling development in Doncaster.

At the council meeting on Tuesday July 22, councillors unanimously approved the planning application, subject to 23 conditions.

What will the development involve?

Located at 2 Brendan Avenue and intersecting with the Manningham Road service lane, the development would see the construction of four three-storey dwellings on a 756sqm site with a frontage of about 26 metres.

As part of the work, one large River Red Gum would be retained, while three large trees along the eastern boundary would be removed.

What opposition did Manningham Council receive?

Manningham Council received six objections and a petition with 28 signatures.

Key concerns raised by nearby residents included a loss of privacy, construction noise, potential flooding, lack of visitor parking and impact on neighbourhood character.

What was the reaction from Manningham Council?

While she spoke in support of the motion, Manningham Mayor Deirdre Diamante said she understood the concerns of residents.

“It [Brendan Avenue] was never designed for this volume of traffic and it compounds it when there’s a primary school nearby,” she told the chamber.

Diamante said she received an email recently from a local who spent 20 minutes travelling 100 metres along the Manningham Road service lane near the proposed development site.

Speaking in support of the motion, Manningham councillor Geoff Gough said with the development being in the Residential Growth Zone and in line with council’s planning scheme, councillors did not have a right to refuse the application.

“We said that if we’re going to cope with greater density, we’re going to do it along the main roads of Manningham and around our shopping centres, and we have stuck to that,” he told the chamber.

The 23 conditions included the installation of safety bollards at the western end of the driveway, the planting of three screening trees planted along the northern boundary and two trees along the front setback and appropriate screening on west-facing windows.