Submissions received
A total of 76 submissions were received from residents (50), traders / commercial landowners (9), community organisations (4), a utility provider, and 12 that were unknown. One of the submissions included a petition from 25 residents of Sherwood Road (and one nearby street), 6 of the signatories also made separate submissions. In effect, submissions were received from 95 people / households.
What did you tell us?
Below is a summary of the key matters raised in submissions, in terms of what people indicated they supported, opposed, wanted to add or problems Council should fix now.
This list is not suggesting that people supported and opposed the same things, quite the opposite in many cases. The more common responses are towards the top of each list.
- General / overall support for vision and directions, the approach to the consultation and the need for a structure plan, and the Village Centre Plan
- New / improved / utilisation of public spaces (Winbourne plaza, station forecourt)
- The pedestrian spine, and improvements to pedestrian safety and connectivity
- The extension to the rail trail
- Maintaining the village feel
- Widening footpaths, and improving the character of Hamilton Place
- Focus on improving the Hamilton Place car park
- Enhancing and revitalising Stephensons Road (including reduced speed), and Wadham Parade shops
- Retail diversity, and opportunities for redevelopment / expansion
- Establishment of a Traders Association
- Community / health facilities: aged care, day care, allied health, and enhancing areas around existing community facilities
- Housing diversity and incremental change
- Other: landscaping requirements, undergrounding of car parking
- The proposed building heights, especially the 5-8 storeys on two sites. This was considered to undermine the village feel of the centre and create more of an urban feel.
- Building heights that exceed predominant heights already (2 storeys)
- Building heights exceeding 5 storeys
- The potential development of the southern car park, stating excessive heights (compared to Glen Waverley), loss of public land, loss of sense of openness / and trees, loss of car parking supply
- Building of any multi-deck car parks
- Concept drawings for the Hamilton Place car park, resulting loss of car spaces, and traffic impacts
- Station forecourt design limiting vehicles to one-way access
- Lack of consideration for vehicle loading/unloading
- Reducing vehicle speeds on Stephensons Road
- Retail / office: additional supermarket or supermarket floor area, increase in cafes or increase in retail or office floor space
- Increasing housing density within the Development Intensification Area, and resulting increase in car parking demand, traffic congestion and drainage issues
- Allowing for incremental change in residential area, and inclusion of these areas in the structure plan
- Potential acquisition of land to expand the width of the plaza between Winbourne Road and Hamilton Place
- Amenity impacts from interface sites, particularly overshadowing, visual bulk / appearance, inadequacy of setbacks, reduced solar access, overlooking.
- Pedestrian spine generally (potential loss of car parking), and specifically extending to Sherwood Road (safety, reduction in land for kindergarten, increased car parking demand)
- Allowing people to gather in the centre at all
- Lack of justification and costings for the structure plan itself, and the level of vagueness
- Pedestrian and cyclist conflicts, including station forecourt area, and the use of shared paths generally
- Car parking: more in general and more commuter parking specifically, and consideration for disabled/elderly drivers, ensure sufficient parking for dwellings, developers to contribute to parking scheme
- Careful management of traffic and parking, and carefully design underground car parking
- Consideration of loading/unloading areas for businesses
- Station forecourt design: retain / plan for drop off areas, manage pedestrian / cyclist conflicts, consider transport interchange needs, electronic signage at station
- Comfortable and increased supply of public seating
- More public toilets
- Housing: higher densities and reduced setbacks in residential areas, performance measures for design of housing, mandate universal design
- Community / health facilities: more long term day care, aged care
- Shop/restaurant opening hours: earlier in the morning, later in the evening
- Open space: identify new spaces, increase supply, convert southern car park to open space
- Recreation: fitness equipment, playgrounds, gymnasiums, dog friendly areas
- Greening: more canopy trees, green roofs
- Other ideas: business centre, rent control for commercial properties, consideration of ventilation from ground level restaurants, recognise Ritchies as predominant supermarket (and allow to expand), more vigilance about graffiti removal
- Information in the structure plan: costings, cross-section drawings showing heights, illustrations to reflect proposed heights, show wider pedestrian / cycle connections, notate churches as community uses.
- Car parking: limit commuter parking in residential streets, increase car parking efficiency and safety (particularly Hamilton Place car park), reduce restrictions in commercial areas, increase restrictions in residential areas
- Manage traffic and parking around local schools, and manage congestion more generally, and make improvements to improve pedestrian safety – including intersection changes
- Increase traffic flow on Stephensons Road by removing car parking and creating clear ways
- Improve street lighting
- Amenity: reduce footpath trading clutter, replace brick paving with safer surface, vigilance with graffiti removal, improve appearance of vacant blocks, prosecute rubbish dumping
- Open space: improve facilities and improve maintenance / watering.
(Note: where specific issues have been identified, these have been or will be discussed with relevant areas of Council to resolve)
What are the next steps?
We prepared a report to Council that:
- Identifies and respond to the specific issues you've raised;
- Recommends changes to the Structure Plan; and
- Includes a Part D (Implementation Plan) to the Structure Plan, recognising what actions you have told us are a priority.
The report was considered at the Council Meeting on 30 March 2021 and is provide below.