Car park to be size of MCG

A $1.2 MILLION car park could ease parking woes in central Dandenong.
City of Greater Dandenong councillors last week voted to snap up land about the size of the MCG arena on the north side of Cheltenham Road.
They agreed to pay Places Victoria and VicTrack just over $4.4 million for the 1.819 hectare site, between Stockmans Bridge and Greaves Street.
It is earmarked for a temporary car park for office and retail workers and the council’s 2015-‘16 budget includes cash to build the 100-200 capacity facility.
It’s likely to become home to high density apartments in about a decade, but Greater Dandenong business group manager Paul Kearlsey said the council would develop a master plan to determine its best use – parking, open space, residential development or commercial development.
Last September the Journal reported that councillor Peter Brown was pushing for a tree-lined landscaped entry point to Dandenong on the lot.
The land was identified in the Property Council’s recent 20 Projects Victoria’s Best Investment Sites, which identified key government sites which are likely to stimulate economic activity.
– CASEY NEILL