Soil eyesore to go

By CAMERON LUCADOUWELLS

AFTER months of negotiations, unsightly soil mounds fronting the Metro Village 3175 housing estate in Dandenong are set to be removed.
Places Victoria and Greater Dandenong Council had been at loggerheads for more than six months over cleaning up the piles at the council-owned site on Cheltenham Road.
Under the parties’ partnership deed for the housing estate, Places Victoria – a State Government developer – is responsible for all development costs.
Last week, a Places Victoria spokesman said it would “reshape” the soil mounds at Stage 8 after the council appointed a contractor for the works.
It would also remove soil stored on Stage 6 to the south of Cheltenham Road when the council approved a traffic management plan for the works, he said.
Councillor Jim Memeti, who had made several public requests for the removal of the mounds, said the mounds would be levelled off so that the grass could be easily cut.
“This is a gateway to Dandenong. If it was anywhere else in our city, the owners wouldn’t be able to get away with it.”