Hi everyone,
Im currently looking at purchasing a block of land in Burwood, Victoria.The block of land is only a small plot, 14.3m wide by 15.8m deep. I am pretty familiar with Monash City Design Guidelines, and looking at these it would seem as though the house would have to be very small, considering set-backs and the 65% rule where the upstairs can only be 65% of the downstairs excluding garage.
The plot is a subdivided plot from the back of an existing block. The exisiting block, and the existing block on the other side are facing the adjoining streets. So the block we are looking at is the only block facing the street in that little section. If that makes sense. (so the houses on either side, the side of their house faces 'our' street.)
The conditional planning permit has a 3.5m setback which is fine. My biggest problem would be only been able to build a house where upstairs is only 65% of downstairs excluding the garage.
Looking around the area and on realestate.com, it would appear that there are plenty of townhouses in the area that don't seem to meet the guidelines.
So ultimately my question is, does anyone have any experience in building a 'townhouse' in monash city council and how they got around the strict monash guidelines? Specifically the 65% guidelines.
Any help would me much appreciated.
Regards,
226m2 – that's a small site!
Generally speaking, for a subdivision like that to be approved there will be either plans and permits approved or a S173 agreement setting out the requirements for future use of the land. This information should give you a good guide as to what is currently permitted for the land.
If what you would like to do doesn't accord with what has been permitted, it is not an easy process to make any meaningful amendments, and it takes some time. Whilst the 65% rule is flexible, the intent is not. This rule is in place primarily to encourage the articulation of the built form – that is to say – no "slab sided" construction.
Hope that helps, and good luck with it.
I’d contact the planning department and arrange a pre-planning application discussion (even if it the site has ‘provisional’ planing approval, its really a pre-purchase meeting that you are seeking to have). I have done that 3 times now in Monash Council. I went ahead with two of three projects based on those meetings. I backed away from one project, which was fine by me because it meant I avoided a potential disaster. There’s always another deal to move on to.
Don’t rely on the advice given at the front desk, you’ll get conflicting views from different people.The juniors will hedge their comments to cover their a**es, same with any council. Make a formal appointment with the most senior person you can, which will usually be David Lyall. Go in there prepared and professional. I approach it from trying to understand the intent of the guidelines and how best you can meet them (the ‘vibe’ of the thing) rather than a literal interpretation of the rules. You will find that some things are absolutely fixed and can’t be changed, other things are flexible in the context of the overall package of what you are proposing. If your intent is good, you are bringing investment and renewal to the area and it is consistent with the vibe of the thing, then you can have an open discussion with a bit of give and take. Its rare that you will get absolute statements from them, but it should give you a good enough feel for whether to go ahead or not.
Good luck.
Thanks for the reply guys. Appreciate it.
I have basically done more research in the area, and it would appear that most of the guidelines in the immediate area are ignored. There has also been a precendent set in the street, just 3 doors down, less than 1 year ago, a 4 bedroom townhouse was built on the exact same dimension block. So im confident of been able to build somethign that will be suitable to our needs.
Thanks again guys.
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