Developers threatening visual heritage of Ballarat

Hello to everyone who loves living in Ballarat, my wife and I moved here from Melbourne seven years ago to escape from the high rise and traffic congestion and pollution. We really love and fully appreciate the heritage, the history, the lack of high rise and the charm of Ballarat as I'm sure many of you do.

Sadly we are shocked and dismayed that just recently Ballarat's four out of six councilors approved a huge eight storey apartment building block and a seven storey office building on the site of the soon to be demolished Robert Sim Building Supplies business at 102 Humffray Street South, Bakery Hill. Almost one whole block in length and almost the same in width, would see this redevelopment as one of the biggest in Ballarat and worst still, it will set a precedent for other developers to apply to do the same and higher, because one of our councilors stated that they want to build upwards rather than outwards because of the lack of public transport in outer areas. Two councilors stated that they thought the overall height is considered excessive for this location, which is very close to heritage listed ornate buildings which are superb examples of the beauty of inner Ballarat, therefore this proposal is completely out of character with it's surroundings.

Council in approving this threat to our heritage city ignored their own CBD Strategy which designates this area as one for "buildings up to 4 storeys" and also says that within heritage areas ‘new buildings should be lower at the facade than the parapet height of any adjoining heritage building’. They also ignored the view of their Heritage advisor who said “The overall height is considered excessive for this location” and the Planning Scheme which requires them to consider "Whether the location, bulk, form and appearance of the proposed building is in keeping with the character and appearance of adjacent buildings and the heritage place".

These days the majority of people who build in the suburbs own a car, a motor bike, a push bike, a scooter or an e'scooter, therefore a short trip to the nearest shops or to work in Ballarat would not be a problem, therefore I see the councilor's comment about the lack of public transport in outer areas as a poor excuse. There are quite a few commercial areas within a very close vicinity of Ballarat's city for 5 or 6 storey office buildings.

Our current house sits directly opposite this redevelopment proposal it's actually just across the street. If this goes ahead as a 7 storey office building then from our front door we would see nothing but concrete and brick and the entrance/exit of this monstrous building where vehicles entering would stop directly outside our house while spewing dangerously high volumes of exhaust gases in the direction of our house and our neighbours houses. We will also be in shadow of the seven storey section in the afternoon and be overlooked from many windows into our front two bedrooms and front garden. Imagine for a few moments this happening opposite your house or a relative or friends house, because if this development isn't opposed by VCAT it could easily happen.

Therefore my next door neighbour and I are lodging an appeal to oppose this development at a VCAT hearing. The fee to take this to VCAT is $940 but could entail other costs if we seek professional assistance. As a pensioner I don't have spare money to throw around but I'm a strong opponent of developers who don't give a damn about retaining the visual heritage beauty of Ballarat.

Help us to stop the visual destruction of Ballarat and Bakery Hill in particular which has a significant historic value as the Eureka stockade site, before the developers get a foot hold, any donation however small would be truly appreciated.

If you would like to support our case in person at a VCAT hearing then please contact Stuart Kelly on Facebook's "Ballarat Heritage Watch" for details.

Kind regards

John and Liping