A MULTI-LEVEL apartment and retail building on Keilor Road, North Essendon, has been approved by Moonee Valley Council.

The application for 295 Keilor Road is the second controversial development to be approved in as many weeks for the stretch of road.

Last month, the council approved an application for two five-storey buildings at 102-110 Keilor Road, despite fears from one councillor that the towers would create a wind tunnel through Essendon.

The latest application has been significantly revised, from a five-storey 89-dwelling building to a four-storey building with 76 dwellings and at least 100 car spaces.

But the proposal is headed to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal as a result of the council failing to make its decision within the prescribed 60 days.

The application, submitted by developer AMJE Pty Ltd, had received 44 formal objections and forced a public consultation meeting on June 30.

Buckley ward’s Cr Paul Giuliano put forward the scaled-back version of the apartments, saying it was better to give VCAT a guide as to what the council would accept rather than a blanket ”no”.

“When you just say ‘no’ you’re not even giving VCAT an option.

”What you are doing is giving a third party who doesn’t know the area the option to make a decision based only on planning policy not on the residents or council’s opinion.”

Crs Shirley Cornish, Narelle Sharpe and Jan Chantry did not support the motion to approve the revised application.