Council not so street smart

Greater Dandenong’s future residential streets could be wider than those built in recent years.
At the Monday 23 January council meeting, councillor Matthew Kirwan asked for a report on changing the council’s design standards – and potentially its planning scheme – so that future subdivisions could have wider streets and roads like older parts of the municipality.
He also asked council officers to report back on being more flexible with nature strip and kerbside parking enforcement in narrow residential streets, and building inlet parking bays.
A report is due back by 30 June, setting out costed options, advantages and disadvantages.
“Since being elected, I have been regularly challenged over why council has allowed streets to have been made so narrow in places like the new estates of Keysborough, Metro 3175 and Meridian,” he said.
“Residents are concerned about getting through streets where both sides have cars, getting their cars clipped after leaving their cars parked outside their homes or emergency vehicles not getting through.
“In these areas, most of the children of families are still young, so with children staying home longer and longer so the parking issues in these areas haven’t even peaked yet.”
Cr Kirwan said changing parking laws relating to parking on nature strips or kerbs could help to mitigate existing issues, as could selective retrofitting of inlet parking, “the existence of which has caused Hidden Grove to be one part of the new estates least affected by this problem”.
“Consideration of inlet parking was something I wanted to put explicitly as in scope for a future report,” he said.
But more important, he said, he was looking at ways these problems could be prevented in the future.
“In future years, we may receive requests to sub-divide new areas like Sandown Racecourse or industrial estates,” he said.
“There may also be residential housing on old industrial sites close to shopping and public transport where developers approach the council suggesting they become residential.
“I would hope that we have learned the lessons of the past and considered taking action, if possible, on allowing sub-divisions to have narrow streets in the future.”