MP defends $290m plan

By Shaun Inguanzo
DANDENONG MP John Pandazopoulos has defended the master plan of Dandenong’s $290 million redevelopment against scathing criticisms from a professional urban planner.
Mr Pandazopoulos this week responded to dire concerns in a 15-page report by Kevin O’Leary, an urban planner who worked on the Revitalising Central Dandenong project for 12 months, that the master plan had failed to establish a commercial point of difference for Dandenong compared to its municipal rivals.
The report also criticised the train station’s lack of attention despite Dandenong being labelled a transit city, and questioned why central Dandenong did not have a structure plan to ensure consistency of developments in its specific precincts.
Mr O’Leary described the public consultation process as ‘tokenistic’ and said more work should have been done in regions outside of Dandenong to discover what would prevent people from areas such as Gippsland from stopping off at closer major retail, restaurant and commercial precincts such as Fountain Gate in the City of Casey.
Star revealed the concerns last month and so far both the State Government and VicUrban have refused to respond to Mr O’Leary’s arguments.
The final draft of the Urban Master Plan launches tomorrow at the Drum Theatre in Dandenong.
Mr Pandazopoulos said Mr O’Leary should not be concerned by the lack of specific detail in the master plan, as it was designed to be flexible enough to attract as much investment as possible.
“You could get more detail, but honestly, look at the Docklands – the basic principle was to provide flexibility (for developers).
“Without flexibility you are setting a barrier to potential developers in the marketplace.
“You want them to instead fit a broad guideline and then if they are interested, discuss the details.”
Dandenong Residents and Ratepayers Association president Alan Hood said Mr O’Leary’s report only served to confirm fears that Dandenong’s future was being mishandled.
“The very sign that VicUrban hasn’t been able to rebut a single charge just gets your blood going,” he said.
“We’ll wait and see (what’s in the final Master Plan) but I think most of us already know that the plan is in trouble.”