A house will be demolished to make way for three new townhouses in Warrnambool with the project given the OK despite concerns over a lack of car parking.
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Despite some Warrnambool councillors saying they would have preferred a single house or only two dwellings on the site, some cited the city's housing shortage during debate on whether to approve the plans.
The two-storey townhouses won the backing of councillors in a six-one vote.
Cr Angie Paspaliaris said after visiting the site she kept asking herself why there needed to be three dwellings on the property rather than one or two.
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"It's my view that it's cramming as many dwellings on one piece of land as possible," she said.
She said she wouldn't have an issue if it was two dwellings because there would be more room onsite for cars to park.
Cr Paspaliaris said neighbours' objections - that the development would impact on the neighbourhood character as well as car parking and traffic safety concerns - "all stand out to me". She voted against the development.
But Cr Debbie Arnott said personally she did not have a problem with three dwellings on the block.
"As far as I can tell all requirements are being met," she said.
"That pocket of residential area is going to be the next developed area. It's just the way things are going to be with buildings being done up and improving all the time.
"It also addresses the issue of housing shortages in Warrnambool."
Cr Max Taylor said he did not have a problem with the three dwellings and the council officers had done a very thorough job on all the conditions applied to the development.
"It's becoming part of life these days where people are scaling down from bigger houses down to smaller units. This is providing three small units for people who like to scale down," he said.
Cr Richard Ziegeler said building three units on the block wasn't a particular problem for him but he expressed concerns about the impact of extra cars for Bostock Street given the other issues the area faced.
As well as approving this townhouse development, councillors also gave the thumbs up to an expansion of the childcare centre on the same street which would also increase traffic.
Cr Ben Blain said while he did have reservations about the townhouse development - personally preferring one or two dwellings rather than three - it did fall within the planning guidelines.
He said traffic from three two-bedroom townhouses with single garages was a concern.
"I do understand that at the end of the day it all comes down to dollars and cents and three dwellings probably makes this a more viable development than two," Cr Blain said.
"There is a huge need for more housing in Warrnambool at the moment."
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