1-7 Chapel Street, Blackburn VIC 3130

Very concerned to see this application and the danger of the City of Whitehorse becoming the City of White Elephant. With so many large projects which have never reached full occupancy, it seems unreasonable to accept any justification for adding to that commercial property in the area. Brand Smart - half empty, Forest Hill Chase - never reached 100% occupancy. Buildings all along the Blackburn corridor - still standing under utilised and nowhere near capacity. Bringing more and more traffic into a narrow corridor which increasingly cannot be passed without encountering significant congestion. Before an application such as this proposal is passed it is strongly recommended Council releases to the community data which shows the current occupancy rates in commercial property in the Municipality vs projected growth and intention to account for the unused commercial stock currently available. Building more concrete towers will contribute to increasing Greenhouse gas emissions in the area not reducing them, therefore that alongside the unused capacity in the current commercial stock in the area are significant reasons for objecting to this application

Yes, I think those in the infrastructure, development, and planning sections of the Council should answer why their current plans enhance the human flourishing of long-term residents of Whitehorse. Are Council's plans driven by the State government's drive for big projects? In a democratic society, which I know is not favoured by all citizens of Whitehorse, how does Council determine the democratic, or shift the whole of the City to a non-democratic process? For me, democracy is not perfect, but as someone famous once said, "it beats everything else around." Particularly, executive government. So, could we get answers to Sue's and my questions from Council?