by Cam Lucadou-Wells
Seven multi-storey homes have been approved on the former police station site in Noble Park.
Greater Dandenong Council’s planners gave the tick to the proposed six triple-storey dwellings plus one double-storey residence on the corner of Stuart and Douglas Street.
The plan includes a basement car park and a front fence up to 1.2 metres high.
One of the objectors Gaye Guest warned of the dangers of squeezing the project on a 705-square metre block at a “dog leg of a corner”.
With an English language school nearby, a narrow Stuart Street was regularly full of parked cars both sides, she said.
“How are cars getting out of an underground carpark there?”
The project’s height was also not in keeping with the two-storey neighbourhood in Stuart Street, Guest said.
Greater Dandenong chief executive Jacqui Weatherill noted there was a three-storey residential complex “two doors down” on the corner of Douglas and Thomas streets.
“The approved development meets the mandatory requirements of the planning scheme.
“The development is located within the General Residential Zone Schedule 3 (GRZ3) … (which) allows developments up to three storeys and will provide much needed housing in a location with excellent access to services and transport options.”
Weatherill didn’t specify how many on-site car spaces were provided.
“All required car spaces for the dwellings have been provided.
“The application was also reviewed by Council’s transport team who have approved the proposal and access design.”
The site is just outside the Noble Park Major Activity Centre – which sets a preferred height limit of up to six storeys.
Nearby at 51A Douglas Street, a proposed six-storey, 97-dwelling apartment tower – with a 76 car space shortfall – was approved by Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny in 2024.
