Council unhappy with Gurner plans

A proposal by property developer Gurner to build three towers and a “town square” in Fishermans Bend has been criticised due to a lack of detail and concerns regarding sea level rise and flooding.

At its planning committee meeting on February 26, the City of Port Phillip recommended the state government reject the application to build three mixed-use towers at 2-28 Montague St and 80 Munro St.

The proposal seeks to develop much of the project’s details during the life of the development.

As a result, a council report said that the current plans did not yet “fully describe and detail what is proposed”.

Plans for the development by Cox Architecture said the development would “create an inviting and lively interface for the broader South Melbourne area”.

But council officers raised concerns over a host of issues, including tower heights, inconsistency with standards for the area and surrounds, lack of differentiation among the tower designs and a lack of communal open space.

Overall, the application did not achieve full compliance in seven out of 10 policy areas.

Melbourne Water opposed a previous version of the application on the grounds that it was inconsistent with floor levels guidelines, drainage and floodplain management and would be affected by sea level rises.

Council said the new application did not show that all floor levels had been amended to comply with Melbourne Water’s recommendations •