WHITEHORSE will get another 30-storey tower after councillors voted to overturn their previous decision knocking back a Box Hill high rise.

Councillors had originally voted down the proposal to build a mixed-use development at 820 Whitehorse Rd at last month’s meeting, however immediately the decision three councillors filed a notice of rescission with Whitehorse chief executive Noelene Duff to bring the matter back to councillors at last night’s meeting.

In an at times farcical meeting, newly elected Cr Tanya Tescher said she had sought her own “legal advice” which said the council did not have the power to overturn its original decision, however Ms Duff was forced to clarify to councillors that the council did indeed have that power.

Cr Ben Stennett, one of the three councillors who had filed the rescission notice, said he felt the “standard of debate had been lacking” at the previous meeting, and the likely appeal to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal by the developer would result in a “worse outcome” at the expense of the ratepayer.

“If we wanted to burn $80,000 like that, we may as well make it more entertaining by withdrawing it from the bank, taking it to the carpark and pouring petrol on it,” he said.

“The application is in line with our planning scheme, and if we say no, it will go to VCAT and they will take the negotiating power away from us.”

Cr Tescher said the plans “fail miserably to address the parking needs of the building” and disagreed with the proposed car stacker, questioning the technology behind it.

“Technology is far from infallible,” she said.

“In the future if maintenance work needs to be done, it may be hard to find replacement parts.”

The plan for 820 Whitehorse Rd was passed with six votes to four, and included the provision of 10 apartments set aside for affordable housing and an additional 22 car parking spots, bringing the total number of spaces to 294.