Mega plan KO’d

By Melissa Donchi
PLANS to construct a building that would be three times the size of a Bunnings store have been rejected.
The Shire of Yarra Ranges rejected at a council meeting last Tuesday the application for the 2.5-hectare (6.3-acre) warehouse on Maroondah Highway in Healesville.
FNQ Developments had been seeking to build the warehouse on the former Healesville Sawmill site on the corner of Maroondah Highway and Heritage Lane before 34 objections were lodged with the council.
The proposal had brought condemnation from nearby residents and Healesville Chamber of Commerce, who said they had serious misgivings about the scale of the building, and the lack of information on what it would be used for.
Healesville Chamber of Commerce president Gary Slater said he was pleased with the council’s decision.
“It was totally inappropriate for that site and for Healesville,” Mr Slater said.
“It is a site that needs to be developed, but not like that.”
Objector Jim White described the application as a ‘bare bones proposal’ that did not meet the desire of the planning panel.
Mr White said there were a range of problems with the application, including incorrect costings, ineffective use of space and a lack of climate control but it was his visual slide show featuring Google Earth images that had the gallery captivated.
Through a series of digital images Mr White reflected the size and scale of the warehouse project by overlaying them on some of the more well known large retail buildings in the shire.
“The first image is the Bunnings store in Chirnside which shows that the proposed warehouse would be three times the size of the Bunnings store,” Mr White said.
“The second image is the Coles precinct in Healesville which shows that the warehouse would be roughly take up the entire block, including Memorial Hall, the Swinburne Campus and all the retail stores up to Green Street.”
The shire’s planning staff recommended that the application be refused, claiming there was little justification or necessity within Healesville for a warehouse of this magnitude.
“The application for the use and development of the land is considered to be an ill-advised and poorly formed proposal,” the planning report stated.
“The applicant has not sufficiently demonstrated that the proposal is acceptable with respect to the amenity of the surrounding area and indeed has sought to avoid providing basic information in support of the application.”
John Lordan of FNQ Developments was contacted by the Mail but declined to comment.