Estate residents come out swinging

By Shaun Inguanzo
KEYSBOROUGH residents fear they will lose golf course views and inherit traffic congestion if a tribunal greenlights a controversial subdivision in Keysborough’s Hidden Grove Estate.
Residents of Fairview Close, Keysborough, say the plan of subdivision does not show intentions of subdividing two 2050 square metre blocks of land into six blocks each.
In a report before Greater Dandenong Council on Monday night, Taylors Development Strategists sought to change restrictions preventing it from subdividing lots 411 and 417 of Hidden Grove.
Council planning and design manager Jody Bosman wrote in the report that Taylors believed the restrictions were due to a “clerical error” in original paperwork.
According to the report, neighbouring residents fear they will lose views of a golf course, and that traffic congestion will occur as a result of having 12 homes instead of two.
But Mr Bosman’s report refuted the objections, saying advertising material and a subdivision layout plan for Hidden Grove Estate had “clearly shown the lots to be smaller townhouses lots, not as super lots”.
His report recommended that the council accept Taylors’ application.
But Keysborough South Ward councillor Peter Brown leapt to the residents’ defence and said the original plan of subdivision – a legal document – showed undivided super lots with a covenant allowing just one house per block.
Cr Brown said it appeared the council’s planning department had “fallen asleep at the wheel” in handling the matter.
He questioned why the plan of subdivision bore a handwritten date but no council officer’s signature.
Cr Brown then blasted the council for allowing the application to slip through to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) because the council had failed to make a decision on the application within a statutory 60-day period.
After gaining the support of fellow councillors, Cr Brown successfully moved that the council ‘nullify’ its interest in the matter and leave it to VCAT to decide.