A BUILDING on The Strand in Chelsea will be converted into a rooming house despite nearly 100 objections to the proposal.
Plans to convert 5-7 The Strand into a rooming house have been approved by a slim majority of Kingston councillors. The building will be internally modified to make it a seven-bedroom property. The permit granted by Kingston Council states that no more than 10 people can be residing in the house at any one time.
Councillor Georgina Oxley called in the application after council received dozens of objections from residents. She moved an alternate proposal to reject a permit for the plan, but did not win the support of the council majority.
Councillors Jenna Davey-Burns, Tracey Davies, Chris Hill, George Hua, and Hadi Saab voted to grant the permit. Davey Burns’ casting vote as the mayor saw the plan approved.
A report prepared by council officers read that objectors were concerned about “appropriateness of location, poor internal facilities, waste management, insufficient car parking, noise, and insufficient open space.” The report read that council did not consider “inappropriate behaviour, anxiety of community” and suggestions that the proposal would be “detrimental to the community due to temporary nature of living of future occupants” as valid reasons for an objection.
Council officers recommended that the permit be approved. “The subject site is located within commercial 1 zone and one of the purposes of the zone is ‘to provide for residential uses at densities complementary to the role and scale of the commercial centre’. The zone seeks to provide higher density and encourages accommodation including rooming houses at upper levels,” council officers wrote. “Having reviewed relevant policy in section 11 of this report, the land use is considered to be appropriate.”
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 4 September 2024