Lift your game – city warned

By Shaun Inguanzo
A FORMER planner who worked behind the scenes on the Revitalising Central Dandenong project says Dandenong will fail to attract key commercial and retail businesses unless it develops a better ‘game plan’.
Kevin O’Leary, an Adelaide-based urban planner who spent 12 months contracted as Activity Centre’s team leader at the City of Greater Dandenong, including working on the One Stop Shop at Dandenong’s council office, this week broke his silence on concerns about VicUrban’s Draft Urabn Master Plan.
Mr O’Leary worked at the council from February last year and admitted he left on bad terms.
But he told Star he had only a professional gripe with the council and VicUrban’s plan, and this week encouraged them to think bigger in a bid to give Dandenong a greater point of difference from rival shopping towns such as Fountain Gate, Southland, Knox and Chadstone.
Mr O’Leary said Dandenong was tagged as a transit city, but under the Draft Master Plan it would only be so in name, not in practice.
“It seems VicUrban and the council haven’t studied who goes to Dandenong, how they get there and what reasons they go there for,” Mr O’Leary said.
“It would be a matter of building upon that to get a clearer picture of why people would want to go to Dandenong.”
Mr O’Leary said VicUrban needed to consult residents and businesses beyond Greater Dandenong to see what would encourage them to spend money in the city.
He said the Dandenong Train Station precinct appeared to be underutilised in the Urban Master Plan.
“It is alarming to read in it that they use the word they ‘may’ consider offices and mixed use development within the railway station and its environs,” Mr O’Leary said.
“International experts would laugh at it – they would say if want to make this transit city have to have these uses in and around the train station.”
A draft report by Mr O’Leary, and seen by Star, refers to an Essential Economics Report on Dandenong that warns of large businesses such as Myer possibly pulling out of the city.
It follows this week’s closure of Village Cinemas in Dandenong.
Mr O’Leary said the station needed to be the town’s heartbeat.
VicUrban spokeswoman Suzanne Northey questioned why Mr O’Leary had run to the media when he had several months to instead make a submission to the Draft Master Plan.
“VicUrban consulted with the community for nine weeks following the release of the Urban Master Plan draft,” she said.
“A report on the consultation findings is being released next month , and it shows overwhelming support for the elements of the Master Plan. Another clear message from the recent community consultation was ‘enough consultation, just get on with it.’ At no time during this nine-week period did Mr O’ Leary give his input, nor has he contacted VicUrban to discuss his ideas. We welcome all community feedback , and it is disappointing Mr O’ Leary went to the media before discussing it with VicUrban .”