Support our efforts to encourage the Merri-bek Council to revisit their strategy and ensure our church is not adversely affected

We, the undersigned residents, parishioners, program participants and community members of Coburg and surrounds, call on the Merri-bek City Council to urgently revise the proposed high-rise development plans adjacent to 23–29 Victoria Street, Coburg.

The current proposals include no less than 15 new buildings, including an 8-storey tower directly opposite the Presentation of our Lord, Orthodox Church and Community Hub, creating irreversible damage to one of the most active, culturally significant institutions in the municipality.

A default donation to change.org appears after signing of which you can SKIP there is no requirement to support this petition financially!

WHY WE OBJECT

1. The Proposal Threatens a High-Functioning Community Hub

Our precinct is not a small local chapel, it is a major metropolitan community centre, generating weekly and annual attendance that far exceeds most civic venues in Coburg, including festivals, schooling, exams, event hire, addiction recovery programs, and welfare to the homeless. 

This level of community service cannot be sustained if access, parking, amenity and safety are compromised. Ypapanti contains hand painted iconography, relics, and a consecrated sanctuary that cannot be relocated without million-dollar losses and disruption in pastoral care.

2. Severe Parking Loss Will Collapse Essential Services

Council documents promote Central Coburg as “accessible” and a place where people can “comfortably walk…or drive and park their car.” In reality, the current proposal removes practical parking used daily by the aforementioned programs, as well as parish services like conducting funerals, weddings and chaplaincy.

A “multi-deck solution”, as suggested, remains unconfirmed in scope and utility to our precinct, and may be inadequate for peak loads.

3. Over-development concerns & implications

• Traffic modelling has not been done, especially with consideration to our core business and peak calendar periods. 
• Shadow diagrams not available to public; likely to reach into the church's building envelope. 
• Increased insurance, security and compliance costs beyond the capacity of a non-profit.
• Likewise, imposing noise pollution in both directions will require costly sound-proofing for both residents and vendors. 
• Heavy-vehicle access changes that could cripple welfare and festival operations.

4. Critical Local Infrastructure

When Council first approved the church’s construction, it recognised that adequate, long-term parking was essential to its operation. The removal of this space breaks the balance originally agreed to.

John Fawkner Hospital and nearby health services already operate under strain. Adding high-density housing without coordinated investment risks worsening emergency access and local congestion especially during major church events.

OUR REQUESTS

We call on the Council to implement the following:                               

• Abandon the 8-storey tower immediately opposite the church and redistribute height to other parts of the precinct, as suggested during our in-person consultations.
• Ensure no net loss of accessible parking, with close-proximity options reserved for elderly, disabled and essential service use.
• Conduct a full independent traffic & parking impact assessment, with particular attention to our traffic flows submitted during the consultation period. 
• Ensure all shadowing, noise, safety and wind-impact modelling is transparently released to the community.
• Provide or fund a structural dilapidation survey before any works commence, recognising the fragility of a consecrated building already impacted by the rail overpass project.
• Continue to engage in genuine consultation with the Church Committee and community organisations, including co-design workshops.
• Provide a way to partner with the operation of welfare programs, addiction recovery services, and food distribution programs that save lives and reduce social harm in the Coburg is Here precinct.

CONCLUSION

Community and migrant feedback consistently shows that large, multi-generational households common among Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, South-East Asian and African families in Coburg are not well supported by high or medium-density apartment living. Child-friendly, culturally appropriate housing is missing from the proposal despite larger floor plans in some mixed dwelling spaces to try and remedy this challenge.

Despite this, we support responsible development in Coburg. But development that destroys parking, threatens heritage, endangers the elderly, and undermines essential welfare programs is not revitalisation, it’s displacement. 

We therefore respectfully petition the Merri-bek City Council to revise the Central Coburg Structure Plan to safeguard the Church and Community Hub and ensure that any development enhances, not erodes the cultural and social fabric of our municipality.

We look forward to sharing the next steps of our campaign to stop Harmful Overdevelopment in Central Coburg.