Thursday, July 24, 2008

Image of Area Under Attack- Knox Journal 22-07-08

Property problems: Knoxfield resident Ian Simpson (front) and neighbours (from left) Geoff and June Proctor, Therese Woodyard and Joyce Ward are angered by overdevelopment in their neighbourhood. Picture: Melissa Banks

RESIDENTS worried about overdevelopment in Kathryn Road have accused developers of wanting to make money at the cost of their lifestyle.

They took their case to Knox Council's planning consultative meeting last week, with 61 Kathryn Road and 44 Kathryn Road among their concerns.

Knoxfield resident Ian Simpson said developers "just wanted to make their quick buck and get out''.

"I don't think they have any idea. If they were people who actually lived in the houses ... they would understand what happens,'' he said.

"People like living here because of the wildlife, the birdlife, the leafy green tree area.''

Mr Simpson said 100-year-old canopy trees and 80-year-old eucalypts were under threat should the development at 61 Kathryn Road go ahead.

"To replace those with five double-storey townhouses and one single-storey unit, is just crazy.

"The traffic problems caused by this development would be terrible.''

Mr Simpson also criticised the development at 44 Kathryn Road.

He said the proposed double-storey townhouses would not fit in with the "image'' of Knoxfield.

Mr Simpson said residents would continue to fight hard.

"As soon as one gets approved there will be no holding back from the other ones. It will just escalate.

"We could be surrounded by double-storey townhouses on our own individual blocks.''

Knox councillor Debbie Field said the residents had put forward a strong case.

"A lot of people may jump up and down and make a lot of noise, but the residents to their credit were very polite about putting forward the facts,'' she said

"They had really done their homework.''

Knox Council was unable to provide details of the developer by deadline.

The future of the developments will be decided at a council meeting in September.

 

 

A Win!

This email has just arrived with some very good news from Phillip Road.

 

 I thought you might be interested to know that VCAT agreed with Councils decision to deny the application a for double storey unit at the rear of No. 14 Philip Road quoting it did not fit in with the amenity of the “leafy” neighbourhood and had parking concerns.

 

 There is hope when the Knox Council supports the “leafy image” of Knoxfield. I believe VCAT has stated they will uphold decisions by our council which are firmly based on the Rescodes and Council Policy. All our hard work may be paying dividends

 

 

 

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Safety on Kathryn rd

 

 

 

Safety on Kathryn Road

 

 

Will this be the future for Kathryn Road while all these developments progress? Knox Council should ensure Traffic Management is in place when one lane is blocked. Council were alerted to this problem but no action was taken.

 

Craig wrote this last Friday 19th July 2008.

 

 

 

 7:06am this morning

 

I was on my home turning into kathryn road this morning and headlights from a stationary truck were brightly shining directly at my eye level, mid way up the hill, opposite the tennis courts and facing me in the same lane as throughway traffic. I was not sure if it was a late garbage truck or not, it was early morning and dark. I could not see around it properley to determine the safety of going around it (No signal/flagmen were present at all nor was any signage of warning). As residents, we know how narrow Kathryn road is.Let alone on that crest, in the dark with lights shining in your face as you approach that hill. You could imagine my nervousness as i indicated and proceeded around this vehicle cautiously into the oncoming traffic lane to find it was a cement mixing truck with another 6 vehicles behind it. The other vehicles over the crest had "witches hats" in a line next to them, yet not visible from the bottom of the crest of the hill( still no signal/flagmen nor pre warning signage) . All constuction related vehicles!

 

If i had to avoid an oncoming vehicle i would have had to make many decisions within a split second: should i run up the gutter and possibly kill somebody, smash into the vehicles kerbside parked, endangered a prpoerty and the occupants or even a collision with an on coming vehicle.

 

Perhaps i could have reversed and hopfully avoided contact with another vehicle/person, or just sat there and waited for the vehicle with it's lights shining in my face, facing the wrong way on a thoroughfare to depart. Maybe i could have parked my car on Kathryn road also and walked the rest of my journey, or sat at the bus stop and caught a bus to get home safely.

 

Perhaps it is me at fault for entering what is becoming a twilight zone within Knoxfield.

 

Even in daylight hours this is a rediculous scenario and i do not wish to experience it ever again.

 

Now what do we do when the whole of Kathryn road becomes a carpark?

 

I just want to get home safely from work and also know that my family and neighbours are safe whilst living in this area.

 

Craig Money

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Knoxfield Residents Have Their Say!

 Tonight approximately 70 Knoxfield residents attended the Planning Consultative Meetings for both Nos 44 and 61 Kathryn Road. After David, Peter and Ian presented  a case against these developments the floor was open to other residents that wished to have their say. All the issues were discussed, including children’s safety, overloading of infrastructure, overdevelopment of both sites, the loss of canopy trees and the effect on our wildlife, biodiversity, the breaking of Rescodes in the developments, how out of character the developments are, heavy traffic on Kathryn and Anne Roads, the dangerous round-a-bout at Kathryn and Anne Roads, lack of parking spaces along our roads and the effect of global warming on the developments.

Overall a most satisfactory night. We wish to thank Cr Mick van der Vreede for attending in Cr Debbie Field’s absence through ill health. Mick supported our arguments with crucial questioning of officials in attendance. Special thanks got to David and Peter for their research and in leading the arguments for the objectors. Special thanks go to all who attended the meeting, both young and elderly, and especially those that spoke and expressed their opinions. The main issues were reinforced again and again. Well done everyone!

That now is stage two of the battle. We now must keep pressure on the council to ensure these developments are not passed at the council meeting on the 23rd of September. It is crucial that all objectors to both developments attend this important meeting, to show the council we are concerned about our wonderful suburb and wish to keep it leafy green and retain the village like atmosphere that we so enjoy.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

The Destruction of Knoxfield

Here's a copy of a Post I have added to the Marvellous Melbourne website. Visit it at www.Marvellousmelbourne.org

The once leafy green and semi-rural suburb of Knoxfield is being devastated by greedy developers grabbing the large blocks, with incentives of high prices for the owners. Knox City Council has approved the building of 40 townhouses in Kathryn Road replacing six and now there are applications for 36 townhouses where there once was only six. That's seventy-six houses replacing only twelve. But Knox City Council tells us that they DO NOT assess these developments total effect on the suburb, but only consider each individual development on its own merits. Meanwhile the unique canopy trees are being destroyed, birds are disappearing and residents even notice the lack of honey bees in the area. Narrow roads now carry increased traffic flows and 1960's infrastructure is struggling to cope with the increased pressure. The planners seem to favour the developers and consider the resident objectors as the enemy. Once Justin Madden's plans are implemented next year, a beautiful semi-rural suburb will become dominated by double storey developments along each street. When does commonsense play a part in development?

Monday, July 7, 2008

Knoxfield residents take on developers

Marnie Reid

KNOXFIELD has become a developers' paradise and angry residents are sick of their leafy streets being turned into a high-density suburb.

David Chaney, of Kathryn Rd, is one of more than 100 Knoxfield residents fighting the construction of massive proposals including:

* five double-storey and six single-storey dwellings at 40 Kathryn Rd;

* two double-storey and eight single-storey dwellings at 44 Kathryn Rd;

* six double-storey and one single-storey dwellings on the corner of Anne and Kathryn roads; and

* four double-storey dwellings at 32 Kathryn Rd.

Council has given the go-ahead to two double-storey and one single-storey dwellings at 75 Kathryn Rd, but has knocked back proposals for three double-storey dwellings and another seven double-storey houses on Kathryn Rd.

Mr Chaney said Knoxfield's larger blocks meant real estate agents were offering residents million-dollar prices for their homes.

And residents were taking the money. City Development director Angelo Kourambas said 10 planning applications had been received for double-storey multi-unit developments in and around Kathryn Rd since January 2006.

Five planning permits were still being processed by council, four of which were in Kathryn Rd.

The Knoxfield group is fighting all four.

The group has sent a 412-signature petition to council objecting to future double-storey townhouses in the area.

Mr Chaney, a retired engineer, said they were protecting their environment and didn't want trees and wildlife to make way for high-density dwellings.

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Development Adding to Traffic on Kathryn Road

 I am also a resident of Kathryn Road. It gets beyond a joke when you do the right thing and stick to the 50km speed limit only to have cars tailgating you and yelling abuse. And to make matters worse you then get blasted by peoples car horns just because you have stopped on the road and are indicating to pull into your own driveway. More over, development in our road is just going to increase this problem. It is my right to drive at the speed limit and it's also my right to pull into my driveway and l should feel safe do this all of the time and not just on the odd occassion.

Another Development Advertised Today

Today another development in Kathryn Road has been advertised. This time at number 40 and it includes five double storey townhouses and six single units, a massive overdevelopment for this one acre block. The only way to fight this development is by force of numbers from concerned residents.

If you are concerned visit the Council’s Planning office, view the plans and put an objection into council. Closing date for objections will be the 22nd of July.

Comments from a Concerned Knoxfield Resident

Inappropriate housing development in Knoxfield

 

I write in support our Kathryn Road neighbours in opposing the 2-storey townhouse development proposed for 61 Kathryn Road in particular and recurrent subdivision and unit development in general, for the Knoxfield area.

We have lived in Kathryn Road, Knoxfield since 1979 and have always treasured the mature treescape and the company of the birds and animals which frequent our garden.

Over the past several years we have been increasingly concerned at the proliferation of multi-unit developments on previously single home blocks in our area and the resultant massacre of our mature trees and have noticed a significant decrease in wildlife in our garden.   By their very nature, unit developments attract a transient community of renters who care little (or at least far less) for their surrounds than homeowners – we find this all the time at our end of Kathryn Road where the rented houses are always the messy ones and the ones holding the noisy parties long into the night.

Knox Council purport to be in tune with the maintenance of the special environment by which we are lucky enough to be surrounded (for the moment) and have undertaken to protect same.   They could certainly have fooled us!    Double storey houses are NOT part of the Knoxfield character, particularly 4 on a single home block.  Take a look at the ugly new double storey house next door to this proposed development in Anne Road or another example further east up on the bend of Kathryn Road (square pseudo Georgian, double storey, concrete front “garden”, with multi coloured front door and shutters) – quite out of character with Knoxfield, they belong in Rowville or Wheelers Hill.

Aside from the damage being done to our leafy suburb, another concern is the extra traffic around that already tight roundabout (Anne and Kathryn Roads) and the impact the development will have on that strip of local shops and their customer parking spaces;  it is already often difficult/dangerous to reverse out of them due to traffic flow, let alone having 4 large houses and their cars opposite.

We are all aware of the need for more housing Melbourne-wide and if done carefully and tastefully, multi-unit developments need not be a disaster for Knoxfield or any other heavily treed neighbourhood.   Case in point, is the recent unit development in Kathryn Road just west of the Anne Road roundabout – single storey, with at least some of the trees having survived the builders.

We hope the Council will see beyond the greed of builders and landowners and take steps to protect the beauty and essential ethos of the Knoxfield area.

 

 

 

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Planning Consultative Meetings for Nos 44 and 61 Kathryn Road

Dear Objector,
Planning Applications for Nos 44 & 61 Kathryn Road
Thank you for objecting to the overdevelopment of Knoxfield.
Now is the time to stand up for Knoxfield by attending the
Planning and Consultative Meetings on Tuesday 15th July at
Knox Council Offices, at 6.30pm for No 44 and at 7.30pm for
No 61 Kathryn Road.
Please do your best to attend. If these developments are passed by
council, medium/high density housing will spread, not only along
Kathryn Road, but to ALL of Knoxfield.
If you require assistance with transport please call
David and Valerie—9753 4243
Ian and Maree—9763 6226

Latest updates: helpsaveknoxfield.blogspot.com
Email: saveknoxfield@ozemail.com.au

Planning Consultative Meetings
Your attendance will:
• Provide us with the opportunity to express our objections to
the developer and the planning officer.
• Add weight to the strong message against overdevelopment
to the Council, the developers and VCAT, if it goes to this
adjudicator.
• Provide you the opportunity to speak, if you wish.
• Be essential if we are going to influence the decision, so
reply to the council today.
Together we can make our message heard.
Overdevelopment of Knoxfield must cease.

Developers Attack Knoxfield

Kathryn Road in particular has been targeted by developers, having no regard for the character and leafy image of Knoxfield. Numerous high density developments have been planned. Four Planning applications have been lodged with Knox City Council Planning Department for high density housing at numbers 32, 40, 44 and 61 Kathryn Road. If they are passed in their present form it will mean that four houses will be replaced by 32 dwellings. Future developments at numbers 36, 48 and 56 could mean seventy houses replace only seven original houses.
How can Kathryn Road cope with this influx of extra residents, traffic, noise and stress on the infrastructure.

Knox City Council at it's May meeting passed a motion to report on the uniqueness of Knoxfield's trees, with a view to having a local law passed to protect the canopy trees which are quickly disappearing. Meanwhile greedy developers knowingly are attempting to plan developments which will eradicate healthy 100 year old eucalyptus cephalocarpa (mealy stringybark) trees on 72 Anne Road/ 61 Kathryn Road. These trees are protected by a Vegetation 3 Overlay applied by council to protect these trees.The developers are blatantly disregarding this overlay ruling, Knox City Council's Planning rules and policy to protect canopy trees and to maintain the leafy image of knoxfield. Paying approximately $750,000 for this block is no reason why these trees should be destroyed. Just imagine the wildlife we have come to appreciate will be affected. It won't be long before we no longer see crimson rosellas, rainbow lorikeets, red wattle birds and the many other birds visiting our backyards if this destruction of the canopy trees continues.

Voice your opinion about this destruction to Knox City Council through your councillors, Cr Debbie Field, Cr David Cooper and Cr Mick van der Vreede.

If you have an issue and would like assistance to object to a planning application send an email to

saveknoxfield@ozemail.com.au