Correspondence from the developer.
By now you will have received at least two pieces of correspondence from the developer of 6 Paine St, and possibly had his representatives knock on your door to seek your feedback on the development and their upcoming community consultation process. If you have not seen these pieces of correspondence here they are:
The developer abandoned talks with community representatives (when representatives proposed minor design compromises which were unacceptable to him) and created an alternative consultation process, for which he has hired consultants Collective Possibilities to act as facilitators.
They have started with a door knock and letter campaign, inviting residents to information session ‘drop ins’.
Drop ins.
The developer’s team has scheduled two information ‘drop ins’ sessions: Sunday 3rd (anytime between 11am-12:30pm) and Monday 4th (anytime between 6:30pm-8:30pm) at the Williamstown Town Hall Chamber Room.
It is in the interest of the community for residents to drop in to one of the sessions and provide direct feedback on the latest plans for a 43 unit, 3 storey building. Focusing on the major issues as you and other residents see them:
- Failure to meet Council infill guidelines.
- A single monolithic building design, using the majority of the site, with no ground level break around the entire site perimeter.
- Overall height and mass (three stories) far in excess of the surrounding buildings. With inadequate setbacks for such a large building.
- Complete failure to respect the neighbourhood character.
- Overlooking the park and children’s playground.
- Includes too many residents and vehicles and exacerbate current local traffic and parking issues.
- A design that will forever negatively alter Newport’s character.
All of which are products of a blatant overdevelopment of this site.
The developer, project investors, and designers, are expected to be there to receive your feedback. The facilitators will subsequently report the feedback and pertinent information back to the developer.
Proposed workshops.
The facilitators propose to hold community workshops (20th and 28th March) at the Williamstown Town Hall. Again, the developer, investors, designers, are expected to be there with the facilitators.
The workshop scope, objective, and format are yet to be clarified. But the workshop outcome will be reported to the developer.
According to the facilitators these feedback drop-ins and workshops are primarily for the developer to gather community feedback for him to make decisions and potentially be include in his application to Council.
There is yet to be a clear indication the developer will respond to this feedback and workshops with changes to his application along the lines residents would be seeking.
Worth remembering.
This process is being organised by the developer independently of statutory process. Processes which failed to get him his way two times previous.
The developer abandoned talks with community representatives (when representatives proposed minor design compromises which were unacceptable to him) for a new process.
The developer will use this process to support his application to Council, and potentially in VCAT to get the development approved.
When is council going to learn that independently review these matters they have to invest in INDEPENDENT peer review of everything the developer submits. Council is so lazy on the evaluation of matters. If the developer submits something like a traffic report.. Council officers seem to say oh good we don’t have to do that and yet days and times have been corruptly determined by the developer to promote their case.
The developer is obviously trying to wear down the community opposition to his profit driven overdevelopment of the old timber yard site. His consultants are trying to invent a new process to get what he wants. We residents need to be vocal in rejecting this process, it has been thrown out of VCAT twice because what he is proposing is MASSIVE. Do not trust them.
I don’t understand how the developer can expect us to allow this with open arms. This is becoming very tiresome but I will keep fighting it until they go away quietly.
If this happens Newport and Williamstown as we know it will change as we know it in future development plans. Look across the bay at Port Melbourne and you will see what happened there.