Highdensity fury

By Jim Mynard
RESIDENTS from the St John’s Heights Estate in Berwick have come out in force to prevent highdensity units going up on a Riviera Drive site.
One resident, Chris Thornback, said the original developer had promised to maintain the integrity of the estate with mediumdensity building.
Ms Thornback said guidelines were set, but the land was sold to another developer who wants to build 25 townhouses on the land that was originally planned to have only six.
More than 50 residents met in a private home last Thursday to discuss action against the proposal.
Nearly 100 residents met again on the site on Saturday.
Residents said they signed purchase agreements to live on the estate with strict covenants that they believed would protect the standard of their streets and their lifestyle.
They said many people asked about the vacant piece of land and were told that town houses similar to their own would be built there.
They were also concerned that a park on the estate was being blended in to the development and that some would be lost to footpaths servicing the development.
Resident Malcolm Calder said a notice was placed on the site at Riviera Drive that indicated highdensity dwellings would go up.
He said people bought their properties based on promotion that the estate was ‘Berwick’s most prestigious address’.
“That was their marketing catchphrase,” Mr Calder said.
“The planning maps provided to us on purchasing our land had numerous covenants in place to protect the estate and ensure premium housing values.
“The list of covenants was extensive.
“The land in question was earmarked for medium density housing on the original estate maps.
“All residents that questioned this with the sales representative prior to purchasing their land were advised that the housing would be identical to that in Cresta Court, Berwick which consists of six townhouses not 25.”
Mr Calder said the restrictions were placed on individual purchasers and did not apply to the Riviera Drive site.
“The planned townhouses do not fit in with the general appearance of existing houses in this estate.
“We have been mislead,” he said.
Mr Calder said they formed a residents’ committee to fight the development.
“We have signed petitions to the City of Casey outlining our objections to the planned development.
“We have also spoken to Edrington Ward councillor Brian Hetherton in an effort to get council to listen to our residents group to try and stop this development from taking place.”