By ALESHA CAPONE
HOBSONS Bay City Council has received 27 objections against a proposal to build 40 homes on the site of a historical hotel in Williamstown.
The four-storey building with basement parking would see the Bristol Hotel converted into homes.
Located on the corner of Ferguson St and Station Rd, the hotel was erected in 1888 and is listed in the Hobsons Bay Heritage Study.
A previous application for the site was refused by the council and upheld at VCAT.
The council’s planning and environment director, Peter Gaschk, said the new proposal would be decided upon at a future special planning committee meeting.
“Reasons for objection included heritage, car parking and bulk of development,” he said.
Suzanne Orange from Save Williamstown, a community group dedicated to preserving the area’s heritage, said many residents were worried about high density developments impacting on amenity.
“This is a high density proposal that could see around 150 residents on 1600 square metre site. The proposal doesn’t meet requirements for private open space, car parking etc,” she said.
“The density in fact is similar to the latest proposed for the former Port Philip Woollen Mills site, which has gone up from over 400 dwellings catering for over 1000 residents to over 800 dwellings catering for around 2000 residents.”
The Bristol Hotel owner Paul Mitchell said he had been at the hotel for 34 years and would be sorry to see it go.
However, after a 10-year battle to develop the site Mr Mitchell said he has had enough and would sell the building if his latest proposal is not approved.
“If this doesn’t go, I’ll sell it,” he said.
Mr Mitchell said a “very big corporation” with a “much bigger development” in mind were keen to purchase the land from him.
