Residential parking canned for eight-storey Bakery Hill apartment building

Council officers have recommended there be no residential car parking for the 74 apartments planned to avoid flooding issues.

In the original plans the 30 spaces for residents would exit onto Bradby's Lane but the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority has raised concerns about flooding in the lane.

Dozens of residents raised concerns about the two buildings, one for apartments and one for offices, on 102 - 108 Humffray Street South when it was advertised at the start of February 2023.

The recommendations to be discussed by council, said this is "appropriate" because of the other public and active transport available in the area, including access to the Little Bridge Street bus interchange.

There will be 76 bicycle parking spaces for residents, three times more than what is needed in the planning scheme.

This is another reason why the reduction in car parks is "appropriate".

The council recommendation said the move to "encourage sustainable travel ... by limiting on-site car parking is consistent with contemporary planning practices".

They said this would "exacerbate third party concerns" but in this context "resident car parking is not required in a planning sense".

Among the 11 changes council officers require is "the deletion of all car parking spaces within the residential building and the re-use of the space for purposes ancillary to the approved dwellings".

The eight-storey office building will have two basement levels set aside for parking.

These 77 car spaces will exit onto Humffray Street South.

Under the planning scheme there would need to be 238 car parks for an office building of this size.

However public transport, increased bike facilities and the central location will mean workers will be less reliant on cars, the recommendation argues.

"This technique is not unlike the car parking limitation policy applied in the Melbourne CBD where car-based travel and consequential storage is identified as having a lower planning importance," the document said.

The architectural plans have been amended to decrease shadows into homes opposite on Humffray Street South.

Despite keeping the chimney as a "nod to the former use of the site" which the council officer said it "fortunate and welcome", residents have raised concerns about how the building will mesh with heritage features of the area.

Residents have also raised concerns about the sight lines on Main Road.

The building is not in an heritage overlay but the other residential buildings on the opposite side of Humffray Street South are.

The council officer said heritage aspects of the city including Main Road, Town Hall and the Ballarat Railway Station should not be "used as reason to sterilise the development potential of a site".

"It is typical and acceptable to view modern incursions juxtaposed with heritage assets in an inner-city context," they said.

"This is how cities evolve. Cities are not caught in a single point in time."

The council will discuss the application and officer recommendation on Wednesday, April 10.