An Elwood family has been blocked from building a single-bedroom extension to their home, which advocates believe exposes how heritage protections are failing to keep pace with efforts to boost modest development in well-serviced suburbs.

The application was knocked back by a planning tribunal despite having Port Phillip Council approval, only one objector and being opposite a three-storey apartment block near the Nepean Highway and Ripponlea station.

Kathryn Robson’s one-room addition to her Elwood home was rejected for its visual impact. Credit: Alex Coppel

Home owner Kathryn Robson said she was stunned her modest second-storey addition was found to be visually unacceptable.

“It’s just ridiculous,” she said. “If we can’t build this, what can we build?”

Both housing and heritage

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