A PUSH to apply heritage protection to an historic Mentone home has hit a snag.
Kingston Council has been preparing a planning scheme amendment to place a permanent heritage overlay on 86 Mentone Parade (pictured below). However on Monday, Kingston councillors voted against a council officer recommendation to ask the planning minister to put together a panel to assess the proposal.
The report prepared for Kingston councillors read that the house is “a potential place of significance within the preliminary heritage review currently being undertaken for the municipality.” It read that action was needed because the house is at risk of demolition.
“On 20 December 2022 Council received a 29A request for the demolition of the dwelling at 86 Mentone Parade, Mentone. In response council requested an urgent assessment from a heritage advisor who concluded that the site meets the threshold for local heritage significance and recommended a heritage overlay for the site on the grounds that it demonstrates a tangible link to the initial settlement and development of Mentone as a suburb in the 1880s,” the report read.
The site is currently under temporary protection. Council officers wrote that “two planning scheme amendments were submitted to the Department of Transport and Planning under delegation in January 2023, one seeking interim controls and the other seeking permanent controls for the subject dwelling”. The interim controls were approved in April, and last until 31 March 2024.
Data from realestate.com.au reveals that the house was sold for a little more than $1.4 million in 2015.
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 26th July 2023