Proposed 46-room hotel at Murrindindi

A 264-page document forms the planning permit application for a 46-room residential hotel and restaurant on farming land at Murrindindi.

Alta Architecture Pty Ltd has made the application to Murrindindi Shire Council, with the advertising period closing in two weeks’ time on Wednesday, October 30.

Alta Architecture gives its address at 587 Whitehorse Rd, Surrey Hills. Contact name is given in the planning permit application as Mr Alvin Xu.

A community meeting is being held at 6pm tonight (Wed., Oct. 16) at the Murrindindi Community Hub, to organise objections to the proposal.

The property is in a farming zone. The project is valued at $10 million. The property owner’s name is ZX Nominees Pty Ltd of Toorak. The applicant’s address is redacted by the Council in part the online replica of the permit application.

However, in other parts of the online application, the company’s address is given as 34 Hopetoun Rd, Toorak. This is listed by realestate.com.au as a seven-bedroom home, which is said to have sold for $15 million in 2013.

According to records held by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the company was incorporated on May 28, 2012.

The original planning permit application was made two years ago on September 29, 2017. The Council was paid a fee of $8354.30 for the application.

A pre-application meeting was held by the applicant and Murrindindi Council staff (Melissa Crane, Sudath Herath, Ian Coller and Bob Elkington) on August 2, 2017.

Extratcts of property title documents and title plans provided by the State Government are included in the planning permit application made to Murrindindi Shire Council. The property at 707 Murrindindi Rd, Murrindindi, has been known as ‘Balaclava’, near Murrindindi Creek. It comprises 13 parcels of land, on more than 8 million sqaure metres.

Melbourne firm, Urbis, included a number of reports to accompany the planning permit application, in correspondence to the Council in May this year:

• Amended architectural drawings
• Amended town planning report
• Cultural Heritage Management Plan
• Letter and Notice of Cultural Heritage Management Plan approval
• Site feature and contour plan
• Land Capability Assessment
• Traffic Engineering Assessment
• Planning Stage Acoustic Report
• Waste Management Plan

“The shooting facility has been deleted from the application in order to minimise ground disruption,” says the document lodged by Erin Skurrie, Senior Consultant, for Urbis.

The application won national attention when the 60 Minutes television program and Fairfax newspapers (The Age) revealed internet publicity that wombats and other wildlife could be shot on the property.

A helipad, security shed and signage has also been deleted from the revised application.

The application says that “the proposed design is a contemporary two-storey building that will celebrate the site’s rural scenery and provide a unique accommodation and hospitality facility to enhance Murrindindi’s tourism industry”.

The application seeks to reduce the car parking requirements. The application states that 154 spaces will be provided.

“The proposal will not result in unreasonable amenity impacts,” says the application.

The plan also includes a function room for up to 160 people, open until up to 11.30pm on Fridays and Saturdays. The public will be allowed access to the restaurant. A concierge service will be available 24 hours a day to hotel visitors.

The application requests that a general liquor licence be allowed.

The applicants say that the hotel development will provide employment opportunities for residents in Murrindindi Shire.