By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
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NOBLE Park should be closed from major developments until congestion from Heatherton Road’s level crossing is fixed, says Greater Dandenong councillor Roz Blades.
The council last week approved 12 apartments on the first floor of a restaurant/office and car park site in 1/21A Douglas Street – a decision that infuriated Cr Blades.
“There’s only one area available for parking and we’ve got an application on that land,” she said.
The approval leads to a overall loss of 43 parking spaces in what Cr Blades argues is already a parking-poor area.
“Noble Park is a place we are trying to get people to shop in. It’s stuck between Glen Waverley and Parkmore shopping centres on either side.”
Cr Blades said the decision would also add traffic to an area gridlocked during weekday peak hours. She has pushed for the council to advocate for a grade separation of the nearby level crossing to relieve traffic congestion.
VicRoads recently stated that the level crossing was not on its priority list for the south-east. “We should be careful of any future developments around the area. We can’t let any more traffic in,” Cr Blades said.
The area’s reputation as a public transport node was a myth, despite its proximity to Noble Park station. “There are no buses on Saturday afternoons or Sundays. A bus stop does not a network make.”
An earlier 13-apartment proposal was rejected by the council and the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal last year.
VCAT member John Rundell said the dwellings provided “unreasonably poor internal amenity” with a reliance on borrowed light and ventilation, and there was inadequate parking on the site.
A council report stated the introduction of apartments would add vitality to the activity centre and improve safety and surveillance.
“The reduction of car parking … will not have an adverse impact on car parking within the Noble Park activity centre as a recent parking study has established that there is sufficient publicly available parking in the centre.”
