By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Greater Dandenong Council is still awaiting final reports for its safety review into a controversial townhouse project in Keysborough.
The council had expected the reports into the Keysborough Townhouses site at 452 Cheltenham Road by the end of August.
On 2 September, Greater Dandenong building and compliance services manager Jamie Thorley said the council was “awaiting the final reports from all consultants”.
“It hopes to have these shortly.”
Safety concerns had been raised about the siting of the estate’s Lot 1, standing about a metre from a truck slip lane and access road into the nearby HomeCo shopping centre.
As a result, there’s no room for a footpath along the access road to link the Cheltenham Road bus stop and a child care centre and shops at HomeCo.
A roadside lamp-post stands just centimetres from Lot 1’s upper balcony.
Greater Dandenong Council has stated that all planning permits were appropriately and lawfully issued, as well as building permits approved by a private building surveyor.
Chief executive John Bennie said there were “questions”, “issues” and “concerns” with the project before launching the peer review.
The peer review will assess issues including Lot 1, the proximity of a light power pole from Lot 1, front setbacks from Lot 1, the footpath network within and outside the estate, several easements and parking inside and outside the estate.
The review was to be undertaken by council officers from the planning, engineering and traffic safety departments as well as “external third-party specialists”.
They would potentially report on the work undertaken and ways to “address or redress matters brought to our attention”, Mr Bennie said.
The townhouses’ current position was in an amended permit approved by a council officer in 2018.
The application by developer Salter Brothers was neither advertised to the public or put in front of Greater Dandenong councillors.
