'It was just an insult. ... I am extremely annoyed that we've been forced to spend so much time trying to stop this development.' - Belinda Michell WESLEY College's plan for a multi-storey office and apartment development in a residental Glen Waverley street was last week rejected by Monash Council.
Rose Avenue residents applauded and shared hugs outside council chambers after the proposal was unanimously rejected at last Tuesday evening's meeting.
Homeowners in and around Rose Avenue have been on edge for the past month after it was revealed that Wesley College and architectural firm AGenser & Associates planned a double-storey office block and apartment complex on the vacant land bordering the avenue.
Residents feared the proposed apartment block, rising up to four storeys, would bring noise and traffic to their quiet street.
Concerned residents banded together to form an action group to voice their concerns to council.
Belinda Michell, who holds a PhD in medicine, was a primary organiser of the group, which has set up its own website,
stopwesleymegadevelopment.com, and Facebook fan page, attracting more than 90 readers.
Dr Michell said residents were happy with the decision and that the council had been "incredibly supportive".
"It's great that they saw it as an out of character development and they recognise it could set a precedent. It's between two activity centres," she said.
But Dr Michell said the stay in development was only the first step in preventing the complex from going up.
Wesley College can still appeal against the council's decision at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. Dr Michell blasted the prestigious private school for not consulting residents. "It was just an insult. It's such a massive development and everyone we spoke to said it couldn't possibly go ahead.
"I am extremely annoyed that we've been forced to spend so much time trying to stop this development."
At the council meeting, Cr Geoff Lake said it was time for Wesley College to decide whether it wanted to be a hard-nosed developer or part of the community.
"An organisation interested in its community would accept the outcome of the democratically constituted council and announce that it will not appeal. This is now Wesley's choice," he said.
"Following an amendment I moved to the council report, if Wesley appeals council's decision to VCAT, Wesley will face one of Melbourne's leading QCs at the tribunal, where council will defend our decision with a vigour that has rarely been seen inside VCAT before."
Wesley College chief financial officer Cameron Moroney said the school was disappointed but not surprised at the council's decision and undecided on whether to appeal.
Wesley College has now invited residents to a discussion about the development, a move that caused considerable surprise, coming after the council had made its decision.
"We just felt that now was the more appropriate time rather than six, eight months ago when [the plan] was probably more concepts," Mr Moroney said. "Now it's the more appropriate time to be clear about what our purpose is, what we're trying to achieve and also, frankly, there's a fair bit of misinformation floating around that they want to clarify. We're happy to respond to that."
Long-time Rose Avenue resident Kevin McGrath said he was concerned the final decision may end up before VCAT but that residents were ready to battle on if necessary. "We're not giving up one inch," he said.
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