Situated at the end of the eastern freeway amid tree lined streets and very large backyards, Whitehorse is ripe for medium density development &endash; or so many developers would have it. Of course, others disagree and like many other Council areas, the City of Whitehorse, as the responsible authority, is caught between pressure for development and a determination to maintain and improve the current pleasant streetscapes.
“Development applications have increased by over 60 percent in the past five years,” said Manager Statutory and Development Services, Phil Warner.
“We do not want to stifle development. We want to facilitate and promote high quality development.
“We are happy to have development that makes a positive contribution to the streetscape and neighbourhood character, including the retention of trees, heritage preservation and complementary design.
“To achieve this, we want developers to consult with residents at the earliest stage of a proposal.”
To bring this about, Council has produced a video, ‘Building a Better City’. This includes the suggestion that developers compromise to make their proposals more acceptable to the local community.
Other means that Council uses to mitigate potential conflict are regular forums and symposiums on development issues.
The latter have included the launch of the video, discussion about building and planning issues, Whitehorse’s preferred planning design features, heritage controls and a talk by a representative from the Department of Infrastructure.
“Most objections to development proposals are concerned about the change in appearance of streets,” Phil Warner said.
“Developments that maintain good building setbacks, trees and other valued features are likely to receive Council support.
“Applicants/developers need to involve the community at all stages.”
He said there has been a decline in the number of objections Council has received since introducing the video and other measures to improve communication between the pro and anti development camps.
