Tower plan 'off in la-la land': opponents

By CLAY LUCAS

Lygon Street's low-rise Brunswick end could see a 16-level apartment tower built, if a developer is successful at the state planning tribunal.

Developer Carlos Corporation has applied to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to overturn Moreland Council's decision to reject an application to build 121 apartments at 330 Lygon Street.

There have been 121 objections to the proposal, designed by Metaxas Architects.

The council report rejecting the proposal said the height of the development was out of scale with the surrounding area, and the site far too small. The building would reach 53 metres at its highest point.

Carlos Corporation refused to comment on the proposal, which will be the subject of a directions hearing at VCAT this Friday.

The developer first lodged the application in late 2002, and has been in discussion with Moreland Council for the past six months.

Cr Fraser Brindley described the proposal as being "off in la-la land and tripping around with the fairies at the bottom of the garden sort of stuff".

The council's Lygon Street planning laws say buildings should "reflect the scale of adjacent buildings", and generally not be more than one level higher than existing buildings. If successful, the proposed development would be at least 13 levels higher than any nearby building.

Ron Holmes, an objector who lives across the road from the proposed development, said he thought it was a practical joke when he first saw it.

"But now it's going to VCAT, we have to take it seriously," Mr Holmes said. "(The developer) tried to claim that it is sympathetic to the surrounds. I'm looking forward to hearing that argument."