By Cam Lucadou-Wells
New life may be breathed into a former Masters hardware site at 466-468 Cheltenham Road, Keysborough.
Greater Dandenong Council has approved an amended development plan to allow a supermarket, eateries and other retail premises on the 3.5-hectare site.
The site had been vacant since Masters closed shop in late 2016.
City planning director Jody Bosman told a council meeting on 26 July that the plan provided a “strong basis for high-quality commercial development of the site”.
Noise, traffic and aroma concerns raised by neighbouring Haileybury College were addressed, according to a council report.
The college also raised concerns about being exposed to legionella infections from poorly-maintained cooling towers as well as poor language and cigarette smoke from staff rest areas.
The developer has advised Greater Dandenong that the main ex-Masters building will be retained.
The Masters’ chain of 63 stores was run by retailing giant Woolworths as a rival to the Bunnings conglomerate.
Masters was shut down by December 2016.
