851 Burke Road Camberwell VIC 3124

Why do we have Heritage Overlays they are to protect the integrity of our city, yet developers constantly leave them in an abandoned state so that they can then say that they will improve the site by demolishing them. Any plans for this site should include preserving this wonderful historic facade.

The next problem is the reduction of car parking facilities. We are Camberwell residents and Bourke Rd is grid lock most times of the day. Parking for shops, parking for restaurants or cinema of an evening, is at a premium. People drive to Camberwell Station to park to catch the train to the city, parking is at a premium with single fronted properties that have no parking and blocks of flats so why would council allow any further reduction to car parking requirements.

Burke Rd is also further congested by trams and this developer also wants to reduce loading bay facilities. Do they want to take council parking space of the street and use those as their loading bay spaces.

Council needs to draw up some more rules regarding developments and how they impact of residents and local communities. In some streets council allows several major works to be undertaken at the same time effectively closing local streets to the community. Developers and builders are making their own road rules and erecting road signs, diversion signs and causing chaos and OHS issues to the community. Some sort of ongoing assessment needs to be made by council.

Each time the applicant submits a planning application, the development continues to get bigger and bigger and more and more compromises are sought for no benefit to the immediate area. A 9 storey plus basement car parking will significantly change the landscape of Burke Road and amounts to overdevelopment in an area that already has many high density residential developments (with more in the pipeline). Ingress/egress from either Harold Street or Mayston Street is haphazard at the best of times which a reduction in car parking requirements is not going to ease. The road infrastructure was never designed to cope with this many traffic movements. The current state of 851 Burke Road is an eyesore and a missed opportunity to show off some of Camberwell's heritage. As more shops become vacant and national retailers leave the high street, new reasons are needed to visit Burke Road. I support the development of this site but not at the further expense of the already limited amenity in the area for both current businesses and residents. I would welcome further information from the Boroondara Council about this development particularly the application documents being uploaded on the Planning Register.

This is a very significant bank facade designed by the noted architects Sydney Smith & Ogg in Romanesque revival style. With the former ES&A Bank (now the Meat and Wine Company) this is the most important architectural heritage item in the Burke Road shopping precinct. The firm also designed other bank buildings in Swan Street, Richmond, Yarraville, commercial buildings and hotels but this is the major example of its work in Boroondara. It is unthinkable that it should be demolished and could be sensitively retained within a development of the site.

Where are the application documents and why haven’t they been posted online? This is a significant development with significant ramifications and the reason behind this serious breach of transparency needs to be investigated. I will contact the Minister and relevant media/authorities to bring this matter (cover up) to their attention.

Are you serious!!!
As I former Mayors Granddaughter I'm disgusted and infuriated.
The council wants to fine Darren & Dee Jolly for demolishing that awful house in Kew &
Those crooks at Sophia's can happily and willingly poison people in the community via their deplorable food practices & I will add have been charged numerous times, can sell illegal drugs, also charged and now demolish protected buildings.....
What's going on???

I am 26 years old and I (happily) live in a shared house in Deepdene. I find it distressing that many older buildings are being cleared in this area, including Art Deco and other examples of period architectural designs. These are irreplaceable. I understand that there is a balance needed between the re-development of brown-field sites to meet increasing demand and the preservation of heritage buildings, but this demolition proposal illustrates that there is a dire need for this balance to be restored. The government need to take more responsibility to keep these profit-motivated developments in check, as businesses never will.

Good luck , try lobbying the councillors, it doesn't work they have no powers, try VCAT, doesn't work they side with developers. Tragic.

I am new to the area and live on Burke Hill. As I admire the buildings along the strip, I too have wondered about the devastating state of disrepair to the Bank Building. I have had a wander behind the facade and it is absolutely decayed (the pigeons like it though), not to mention the disgusting basement of Sofias which smells like years of rot. It is also a wonderful dumping ground for Sofia's old commercial kitchen/air conditioning units. A largely inviting place for homeless with dumped mattresses and couches. It's devastating to think what lies beneath these beautiful buildings. How dare developers disregard the site. It is an act of vandalism as other residents have stated.

Also disappointing to see that nothing has been done in the 2 years since this application was posted. Whatever happens, this facade cannot be knocked down.

I think a significant part of the facade should be kept and for 2 or 3 bedroom apartments allowed to built with parking underground parking for two places per apartment .