OCTOBER 17, 2017 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
NEWS + SPORT + THE WEST’S BEST PROPERTY GUIDE
(Shawn Smits)
On the road to a cure Former AFL great Neale Daniher took the fight for a cure for Motor Neurone Disease to the bush last week before finishing in Deer Park on Sunday. Mr Daniher – who has been the face of the Fight MND campaign for the past three years – launched the third Daniher’s Drive on Thursday from Essendon Airport. Up to 100 cars took part in this year’s fundraising car rally which stopped in Wagga Wagga, Echuca and Ballarat, before ending at the Deer Park Club on Sunday morning. The final fundraising tally for the event this year was $2.1 million, bringing the total raised by Daniher’s Drive to $4.6 in three years. Mr Daniher said the chance to take the message of Fight MND to the bush was invaluable. “We love going out into the country and rural areas to connect with our supporters and spread awareness,” he said. This year’s drive involved more than 350 participants, including former AFL players David Neitz, Russell Robertson and Paul Vander Haar. Ewen McRae
BROTHERS TERRY, ANTHONY, NEALE AND CHRIS DANIHER
Heritage saves house By Ewen McRae A heritage-listed house in Sunshine has been saved from demolition. The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has upheld a Brimbank council decision to refuse a planning permit for the property at 57 Benjamin Street. The single-storey weatherboard house dates back to 1914 and is part of Sunshine’s historic Railway Station estate. The property’s owner planned to build two double-storey units in its place. The council refused an application for a planning permit for the property in December,
2016, saying the development did not satisfy the necessary requirements for demolition of a heritage-listed property (structurally unsound or unsafe), and the planned units did not fit the heritage of the surrounding area. “Council is not satisfied that the demolition of the contributory heritage-listed building is justified or appropriate having regard to Clause 22.01 of the Brimbank Planning Scheme, as to whether the building is structurally unsound or beyond reasonable repair,” a report stated at the time. “The development does not maintain and respect the heritage significance of the heritage place and heritage precinct.”
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57 Benjamin Street, Sunshine. (Courtesy of Google)
Plans for the site have been revised since 2016. The owners argued at the VCAT hearing in August that the loss of the building would have a “modest” impact on the heritage of
the precinct, and that the new units would be appropriate for the area. In making a judgement, VCAT member Christina Fong said the area had a heritage overlay due to many contributory elements, and to demolish one of these elements would rob the precinct of a significant part of its heritage significance. “This heritage precinct contains many buildings that are not entirely intact, and the declaration of this heritage precinct was based on these conditions,” Ms Fong said. “If there is justification to demolish this building … that would undermine the objective to conserve the significance of the heritage place.”
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