By ALESHA CAPONE
RESIDENTS have expressed concern about safety plans proposed by developers of a massive residential project in Williamstown.
Recently the developers of the former Port Phillip Woollen Mill (PPWM) submitted another planning application to Hobsons Bay City Council.
The new plan is seeking to build a 10-storey apartment tower with 137 apartments – and more than 40 townhouses – along Nelson Place and Kanowna St.
Once completed, the overall PPWM development could result in around 2000 people living on the site.
Along with their planning application, the developers submitted their Emergency Evacuation Plan Analysis to the council.
The report said formal evacuation plans for the PPWM would be formulated during construction and prior to the issuing of an occupancy permit.
However, Save Williamstown’s Charmian Gaud said the plans only covered part of the PPWM spot and were ‘the ultimate cop-out’.
Save Williamstown have been advocating for a risk assessment to be carried out for the entire danger area where the development is set to take place.
Part of the PPWM is located less than 300 metres from Mobil’s Point Gellibrand business, which is classified as a major hazard facility.
Ms Gaud said the Williamstown community would like an evacuation plan formulated for the whole peninsula.
“The developers are hell-bent on covering every square metre of the site and in the long run have not provided any commitment to the safety of residents,” she said.
“The density is about 90,000 people per square km when 6000 per square kilometre is considered dense.
“Construction workers will be here and gone in a year but the residents will be there for 20 or 40 or 60 years.”
Ms Gaud also said an in-depth cultural heritage survey was needed to be carried at the PPWM site before existing historical buildings on the site were demolished – such as the former Nugget Factory, which the developers wanted to knock down.
“The Nugget Factory was built in the 1880s making it one of the oldest industrial buildings in the Williamstown Peninsula,” Ms Gaud said.
