Government architect Jill Garner says recent VCAT decision 'disturbing'

A recent decision by Victoria’s planning tribunal to reject a mooted green apartment development because it had no car parking was extraordinary and disturbing, the state’s new chief architect says.

The $5 million Brunswick project, known as Nightingale, was designed without car parking and approved as such by Moreland council. But in a recent decision, the Victorian Civil and Administrative tribunal affirmed parking was required for the development.

VCAT member Russell Byard said while there was a place in the market for residents who prefer not to have a car park, their needs could be met by apartments in other locations where parking was not or could not be provided.

But newly-appointed Victorian government architect Jill Garner says the Nightingale development was unique in Melbourne and would have had the capacity to fill a market gap.

“The VCAT decision … seem[s] a rather extraordinary and disturbing summary of what could have been an intelligent interrogation of the car free proposition and a meaningful discussion of a demographic shift that clearly places less value on a car than might be considered ‘typical’,” she told architecture blog The Red + Black Architect.

“In this type of housing model overseas, there are diverse propositions regarding cars, including subscriptions to carshare schemes, shared ownership of several smartcars, or precinct-based solutions to parking offsite.

“The VCAT decision has highlighted that these are critical discussions to have when we are trying to encourage walking, cycling, and public transport use.”

Ms Garner said that the type of home to be developed within Nightingale was “radically different to the developer-driven model”.

“There is a demographic [of home buyer] that is not afraid of living more densely than the block/house/garden model; that same demographic is not wedded to the car in the traditional way; that demographic simply cannot find what they seek in the current market,” she said.

“We are lacking diverse, innovative, alternative models that I suspect could be made affordable.”

The case was brought to VCAT by Chaucer Enterprises Pty Ltd, a company with an interest in developing a neighbouring site. Its complaint was not with the council approving the development, but with the lack of on-site car parking.

Planning minister Richard Wynne said he had received plenty of comment about the Nightingale decision, and he would be speaking to Moreland City Council about the issue, and about mandates for car parking.

Existing planning laws require each one or two-bedroom apartment to have one space allocated to it, though councils can waive this requirement, as Moreland had for Nightingale.

With Clay Lucas