taplin

Depending on your position, the acoustics can be extremely poor in Taplin Street as any sound tends to reverberate against apartment facades, causing an 'amplification' effect. The poor acoustics are largely caused by building facades being in uncomfortable proximity to one-another. (the result of very poor town planning) For some, this can be annoying, particularity at night. Noise can be at it's most annoying when some of the younger residents (who have taken up leases within the ugly drab building at the north end) decide to party and booze up at all hours of the night and morning on their balconies, sometimes seemingly without limits. Urinating (contests) from upper level third story balconies on to the footpath below seem to be a popular pastime for some. Quelle horreur! One of the most notable issues with some of the leased apartments is that once the occupants move in, so do hoards of their friends. This can mean that you might have a situation where one apartment has many of occupants living in it. In turn there have been situations where one of these households has as many as four cars parked on the street at one time.

There is a small business in Taplin Street which must have had have been granted special dispensation by City Of Yarra when it initially applied for it's planning permit. I say this (facetiously ) as this particular business carries on as if the (public) street space is it's own private work area, dispatch and pickup point. There are usually vehicles parked all over the street because of this one particular business and on many occasions these vehicles are parked across private access areas and driveways. The revving of car engines can sometimes be heard and the spilling of noxious substances onto the street and gutter, as well as the comings and goings of large trucks which park up to 20mins at a time (engines idling) and usually in the middle of the street (in order to service this particular business) are just another every day aspect of living in Taplin Street.

At this current time, there are a couple of new proposals for high density residential developments in Taplin Street. One of the developments (already approved) is for a four level tower housing six apartments, with the upper most level serving as a penthouse for the owner (application PL07/0213). The second, is a current application before the City Of Yarra for ten apartments (with little no car parking) as I understand. The site for the second proposal is at the former 'Spice' warehouse at 44 Taplin street. It would appear that all the remaining buildings are destined for the same fate. If the current trend, being the increase in density allowance and decrease in carpark allocation continues, Taplin Street will see a sharp increase in resident numbers, noise and car parking demand. The car parking situation in Taplin Street has been dire for a few years now and seems to be worsening. Competition for parking between residents, visitors from outer suburbs to the area as well local businesses have always created high parking demand on the weekdays. New apartments without adequate parking provision will only complicate the situation.

Oh, I nearly forgot. There is one resident who keeps a large dog in an apartment (without a backyard ) and so who has for years found it necessary to create a nuisance by releasing her big black dog (and cat(s) out onto the street to roam . Sometimes this occurs in the early hours of the morning and sometimes in the evening or late night. It quite a largish dog and has developed a propensity for charging at frightened passers by, startling them and menacing them with a very an extremely loud bark and growls. This dog tends to use the nearby park (on Park Street) as it's toilet. Taplin Street itself is often riddled with dog and cat feaces.

All could be improved if only the City Of Yarra would pull it's finger out and do it's job as they have been next to useless in the past.

Anyone inspecting a home with a view to buying into the area, would immediately realise that although the street is in a quiet pocket (in the sense that it's not on a busy main road like St Georges Rd) it is obviously not a leafy street consisting of conventional homes. Most residents I was acquainted with in Taplin Street however seem immune to all of this . I guess unlike me, they bought into the street after I did and accept their environment.


On the plus side the convenience of the location is and it's proximity to bike tracks great.