Homes manage to push through

Concerns about safety and space weren’t enough to hold back an eight-home development opposite Dandenong Park.
Greater Dandenong councillors approved the application for 63 Pultney Street at their Monday 14 November meeting, nine votes to two.
Cr Matthew Kirwan moved unsuccessfully to reject the application, citing poor design.
“We need medium to high density development in this municipality,” he said.
“We also need development that meets the needs of residents.
“Residents, whether renters or owner occupiers, should be able to choose from a range of high-quality developments – not the lowest common denominator.”
He argued that this proposal didn’t meet those requirements because a pedestrian walkway was squeezed into a small space with no visibility from the street.
Cr Angela Long added that there was no private open space for residents other than their balconies.
“The lower floor doesn’t have a balcony at all and there’s no open space there,” she said.
But they couldn’t drum up any support, so Cr Sean O’Reilly moved the recommendation from the agenda – that councillors approve the application.
“It is right on Dandenong Park,” he said.
“How much open space are we going to demand of applicants and developers?
“One allegedly narrow passageway means we should rip up the whole application?
“To knock it on the head for that relatively minor point would be a bad decision of council.
“It’s meeting the needs of people that require housing, which we know is under strain, and also meeting the needs of residents who want their amenity protected.”
Cr Maria Sampey agreed.
“Our officer’s gone right through this. It’s within the guidelines,” she said.