Benedictine Site – 26 Murray Rd

Some of the flora that will be lost if the Benedictine site is developed

Background:  The land has an area of 2.66ha with frontages to Murray Road (24.69m), Webster Avenue (164m) and Columbia Avenue (168m).  This heavily treed site was bequeathed to the Catholic Church for pastoral purposes and has, for many years, been the home of an Order of Benedictine Nuns.  The Roman Catholic Trusts Corporation for the Diocese of Melbourne, originally applied for a permit to subdivide the land into 24 building lots, with an access court to some of the blocks from Columbia Avenue.  It also included removal of numerous trees "as required".  Council refused the application and the Catholic Church appealed to V.C.A.T..

Just prior to the V.C.A.T. hearing in Oct 2003, the applicant reduced the proposed number of lots to 20 and finally to 17.  However, at the hearing, the Chairperson was “totally dissatisfied” with the fact that the applicant was unable to “accurately clarify” the details of the “vegetation that would be lost”.  The Chairperson adjourned the hearing and instructed the Church Corporation to “get their facts together”.  They were requested to reappear in mid-December 2003 and to be prepared to submit “the required information”.

M.R.G. Stance & Activities: M.R.G. spoke against the application at the hearing, where it was strongly supported by the Maroondah Council.  The hearing went for a total of 3 ½ days.

Current Status: V.C.A.T. rejected the Church’s appeal mainly on the grounds of the impact on the character of the area and the proposed massive loss of vegetation.  Since then, the property has been fenced and all of the old buildings have been demolished and removed.  We are currently awaiting advice as to what is now proposed.  While this loss by the Catholic Church was a significant victory for our Group, there are likely to be more issues to address in the future.  

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