By CASEY NEILL
A parking boost should feature in the Noble Park level crossing removal project, says councillor Roz Blades.
But her suggestion of a multi-deck car park has met opposition.
At the Monday 27 June Greater Dandenong Council meeting she asked if the council could advocate to the Level Crossing Removal Authority (LXRA) on the issue.
Cr Blades said a bus terminus should also feature in redevelopments at Noble Park train station alongside removing the level crossing.
She said residents who lived nearby reported commuters’ cars clogging their streets from 6am and into the evening.
“We need to get the best deal we can for Noble Park residents and traders,” she said.
“There’s an opportunity there for greater trade, but not if people can’t park.
“They say there won’t be any less parking.
“But there’s talk about commuters parking at the Sandown station, which is already full.
“Reconfiguring parking spaces could get another 40 or 50 cars in there, but it’s certainly not going to take the whole load.”
Cr Peter Brown said Greyhounds Entertainment and Sandown Racecourse could provide opportunities for parking five minutes up the road “rather than putting in expensive infrastructure in Noble Park”.
He said he doubted that Noble Park residents would support “a concrete and steel multi-level parking station where parkland should be, slap-bang in the middle of Noble Park’s activity centre”.
In an email to councillors, Greater Dandenong’s city planning, design and amenity director Jody Bosman said that the LXRA had indicated in recent discussions it was “not open to entertaining the construction of a multi-deck car park as part of the project delivery”.
“In my view, turning the heart of the village/Noble Park activity centre into a large car parking facility is probably not the best land use and urban design outcome,” he said.
“We will need to take an holistic view of the challenge.”
