By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Greater Dandenong Council has stated it will not “impose itself” in response to safety concerns over the controversial siting of townhouses in Keysborough.
The council approved an amended permit for Keysborough Townhouses estate at 452 Cheltenham Road, with its western townhouses being built about a metre from a truck access road to HomeCo shopping centre.
Residents raised alarm about the lack of space for a footpath along the access road to the HomeCo shopping centre, child-care centre and Cheltenham Road bus stop.
The estate’s corner property Lot 1 stands just a metre from the corner kerb.
At a 28 June council meeting public question time, Keysborough resident Heather Louis said it was a “potential disaster waiting to happen”.
“Please consider pedestrians, drivers and children entering this area to the shopping centre for shopping arriving home and being dropped off at the childcare centre.”
Resident Dom Boccari asked “how was this allowed and how will our council and local state Members of Parliament correct this error of judgment?”.
Engineering director Paul Kearsley said even if pedestrians were walking among traffic, it would “not necessarily” trigger a council safety audit – because the land was “privately owned”.
“There are many examples of shopping centres where pedestrians walk within the car spaces which is a fairly common practice.
“That would be a matter for us to relay that information to the centre manager or to the people who own it, bringing to their attention that there are some issues related to safety.
“It is not Council’s practice nor should it be to suddenly impose itself with regards to building or putting in footpaths on private land that relate to matters that are really in the hands of a private operator of that land.”
Councillor Rhonda Garad responded that the council had a “duty of care to protect the safety of residents” if pedestrians were walking with cars at the entry point.
The project’s amended permit appears to have been approved by a council planning officer delegate, rather than at a public council meeting.
A recent council review of the project found that the buildings met all approvals and permits.
A spokesperson for the developer Salter Brothers said council planners, engineers and urban designers “reviewed” and “tested” the project’s detailed plans including traffic analysis.
They “considered the material acceptable and a high-quality outcome for future residents and the public realm more broadly”.
“This includes how pedestrians access the site and traverse through the site to the adjoining land.”
Greater Dandenong planning director Jody Bosman recently told Star Journal that the amended permit varied a truck route to the HomeCo loading bay at Cheltenham and Springvale roads.
The truck route shifted from the eastern side of the townhouses to the western side to “reduce the potential interaction between trucks and the residential development”.
“That change in truck access has had both improved safety and amenity outcomes for the area,” Mr Bosman said.
The council has stated there were “significant” numbers of footpaths through the estate to link Cheltenham Road and the homemaker centre.
It also noted a footpath from Cheltenham Road down the centre of the shopping centre car park.
The council ruled out the requirement of fences or barriers between the dwellings and the road.
