TOWNHOUSES earmarked for church land in central Wodonga will significantly compromise the existing neighbourhood character, a planning tribunal has heard.
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The project involves the Lutheran church and related buildings between Havelock Street and Ethel Lane being demolished and replaced with two-storey townhouses.
The number of townhouses has been reduced from 20 to 18 under revised plans presented to the hearing.
That move has not taken away objectors' concerns with EDM Group planning manager Peter O'Dwyer representing neighbours with various appeal grounds.
They include neighbourhood character, amenity, traffic impact, garden area, housing strategy, heritage, compliance matters, orderly planning and public interest.
Mr O'Dwyer told the hearing that "the development is not seeking to fit in but rather to make a statement" and significantly compromised neighbourhood character.
"The entire character of Ethel Lane will be altered and in the opinion of the objectors, who are the residents of the area, they will be irreparably overwhelmed by an overdevelopment of the subject land," he said.
Mr O'Dwyer queried council evidence the land had been identified for infill residences under the city's housing strategy.
He pointed to a City Heart document which named CBD West (former police station and court house land) and Junction Place as preferred areas for housing in central Wodonga.
The council's senior statutory planner Laura Hawkins told Mr Code the city supports the estate and rejected all grounds for objection.
She said the project was "sympathetic to the existing fabric of the neighbourhood" which has houses of various materials that date from the 1880s to the modern day.
"It's paying homage, it's not totally different to the context in which it exists," Ms Hawkins said.
Traffic engineer John Bob Citreon, who was commissioned by the land's developer Alatalo Bros to report on the project's impact on vehicle movements, gave evidence.
The former VicRoads employee said the townhouses would generate an extra 55 vehicles per day in Havelock Street and an added five to six in Ethel Lane during peak periods.
Havelock Street, part of a city ring road, carries 2500 vehicles each day and Ethel Lane averages 80.
The hearing continues on Friday at the Wodonga court house with Alatalo Bros' lawyer Greg Tobin due to give a submission at the conclusion of Mr O'Dwyer's presentation.
