THE Winthrop shops could soon be overlooked by five-storey apartments.

Melville council will later this month consider a plan to allow the apartments and a liquor store at the site, which is on the corner of Somerville Boulevard and Jackson Avenue.

The town planning scheme currently only allows four-storey buildings in the area, but under the plan the owners would get the extra storey if they pull the development back from a line of mature trees along Jackson Ave.

“The safeguarding of trees such as this is particularly important given the focus of the city on the urban forest,” a staffers report says in regards to the council’s plans to green up.

“It is acknowledged that the introduction of multiple dwellings in this location represents a change, but that change is consistent with the provisions of the city’s local planning strategy and scheme which aim to increase the intensity of land use in activity centres and add dwelling diversity to existing suburbs.”

Only one neighbour responded to the consultation period, concerned about more traffic on the roads, anti-social behaviour at the liquor store and the heights of the apartments, which they felt wasn’t in keeping with the area’s character.

But council staff say surrounding roads can cope with the extra traffic, while the shops already have more parking than needed and won’t miss a few. They say hoons aren’t a planning consideration.