Community loses Boyd Park battle

By Meg Hill

The City of Melbourne has endorsed a planning application for a development on the edge of Boyd Park, marking the beginning of the end of the contest over the site while a broader debate over green space in the suburb is sure to continue.

Councillors unanimously voted in a Future Melbourne Committee (FMC) meeting on December 1 to endorse the application from developer PDG for a 42-storey tower on the western edge of the park with proposed conditions.

The application will now await approval from the Minister for Planning Richard Wynne.

There were 128 written submissions to the meeting, the overwhelming majority of which requested that the council oppose the development.

There was strong opposition from local residents to giving up a portion of the park, currently occupied by a basketball court and pop-up orchard, that they said was cherished by a community deprived of open green space.

Artemis Pattichi from Southbank Sustainability Group addressed the meeting to oppose the application.

“That activated green space has become the heart of our community, and something you know very well has been missing in Southbank for so long,” she said.

“It’s not going to be a park anymore if you take away that part.”

The application has been long foreshadowed by the council’s plans for the site, but its submission in September reignited opposition from residents to the plans.

The council originally purchased the land – which includes the Boyd Community Hub, the Boyd Park and the development site – in 2007, with plans to sell off a portion for development to fund the creation of the Boyd Park.

Multiple deals with a previous developer, Mackie, fell through. It was only last year that PDG was unveiled as the new buyer, but the Boyd Park was built and funded by the council in the meantime.

Although multiple councillors declared sympathy with the sentiment expressed through community opposition, they said the framework for the development was created by previous councils.

Cr Nicholas Reece said it was a challenging application to consider.

“On the one hand I’m very sympathetic to some of the submissions we heard from our submitters tonight who represent residents in Southbank; on the other hand I think it needs to be said that there is a lot that is very commendable about this particular proposal,” Cr Reece said.

Cr Reece commended the building’s six-star green star rating, the inclusion of 40 affordable housing units, and 920 sqm of community facility space at ground and level one of the proposed building.

“In terms of the development and financial framework, that was a decision made by council many, many, many years ago,” he said.

“What we’re considering this evening is the planning application and in that regard the planning controls are reasonably clear.”

Cr Rohan Leppert said it was apparent that Southbank lacked open space.

“This is one of our urban renewal areas that didn’t adequately plan for open space, and retro-engineering some open space into one of the most dense parts of the country is exceptionally difficult, expensive and challenging,” Cr Leppert said.

“The question is: does this application align with the planning scheme and should a permit issue? The answer is yes; that doesn’t mean that no-one in this room doesn’t believe that we need to work a hell of a lot harder to leave a greener open space for Southbank.”

In light of the disappointment of Southbank Boulevard, which will deliver less green space than what many residents had hoped, attention now turns to the proposal for a green park over CityLink which was originally touted in the 2010 Structure Plan.

The City of Melbourne is expected to meet with the Southbank Residents’ Association (SRA) in the new year to discuss opportunities for more green space in Southbank.