A MELBOURNE family are fighting to build their huge dream home in the city's green wedge, after neighbours moved to block the palatial proposal. Keilor's Michael Saba has big plans for his 4ha Sunbury property, with a planning application for a two-storey, 2728sq m home -- including 12 bedrooms and 16 bathrooms -- now with Hume Council.
Horrified neighbours say the mansion will ruin the rural landscape and create an environmental disaster. Led by the property's closest neighbour, several opponents have formed a group, Residents Against Eyesores, to fight the big plan.
But Mr Saba, a pharmaceutical healthcare magnate, says he needs a big place to fit his tight-knit extended family -- and they've worked hard to deserve the dream home. The $3.5 million mansion will be home to Mr Saba, wife Jasmin and one-year-old son Tony, plus Mr Saba's parents and other family members -- eight people in total.
The rest of the 12 bedrooms, each with an ensuite, will be for visitors, along with another few children for Michael and Jasmin -- up to half a dozen, they hope.
"You have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build a dream house," Mr Saba said. "We wanted a house with all the comforts -- we've worked hard for it and we can afford it."
Hume Council has received 14 objections to the permit application, and closest neighbour Mark Freestone says the project will be an eyesore.
"Sunbury is expanding, and there are more houses appearing on 10-acre lots, but nobody else is building anything this obscene," Mr Freestone said. The 2787 sq m home will be more than 10 times the average Australian house size.
"It will decimate the country feel of the neighbourhood," Mr Freestone said. "The biggest home in the area is 150 squares (1400 sq m), and that's too big."
Last year, Planning Minister Justin Madden made headlines when he described large outer-suburban houses as "McMansions", and said some large designs wasted energy and water. Mr Freestone said the Saba house would make an oversized impact on the environment, and called on the Planning Minister to intervene. But a spokeswoman for Mr Madden said Hume Council was the responsible authority.
And Mr Saba, managing director of Swisse Vitamins, said the house would set new green standards for the area, with plans for solar-powered energy, and a million litres of underground water tanks.
"Even the angle of the house and building materials are designed to maximise natural daylight and reduce energy consumption even further," he said. "It's laughable that one objector claimed due to the number of toilets, there's going to be more waste. It's the same number of visits by the same number of residents regardless of whether there's one or 12 toilets."
The council will decide on the planning permit on March 31, but both sides have vowed to take it to the planning tribunal if they lose.
Sunbury-Maribyrnong Green Wedge Defenders co-ordinator Arnie Azarias said previous VCAT cases had blocked large homes on green wedge land.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23399397-2862,00.html