By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
FIELD of dreams or a big stink? A Chinese developer’s plans for a giant theme park in Bangholme’s vast paddocks may prove a rollercoaster ride in itself.
Chongqing Meixin’s plans to re-develop a 43-hectare paddock at 616 Frankston-Dandenong Road drew excited praise from recent mayor Jim Memeti and chatter in wider Melbourne.
Cr Memeti said the Gold Coast style park filled with rollercoasters, a scenic train ride, waterslides and a Ferris wheel – with some Chinese iconography – could be a drawcard, but the idea got a cool response from Melbourne Water.
The big snag, or perhaps big dipper, for the plan is the location – in Greater Dandenong’s green wedge area, the flood-prone Carrum Swamp and within an exclusionary buffer zone from Melbourne Water’s Eastern Treatment Plant.
The buffer is designed to ward off crowds of people due to the offensive odours wafting from the sewerage plant.
Its acting manager told the Journal any plans had to be “carefully considered”, maintaining “public amenity and safety”.
Nearby resident Alan Hood raised the spectre of the treatment plant’s hazardous chemicals, namely chlorine, putting “thousands of families with children” at risk.
Meixin’s Melbourne-based consultant acknowledged the plant was “a factor”. “It’s just a matter of managing our way through that.”
Which way this ride turns is sure to be a talking point in 2015.
