BYKERRI-ANNE MENSER
ST ALBANS South residents’ only open space could be turned into another entrance for Victoria University’s St Albans campus in a bid to combat increasing traffic issues.
Victoria University has partnered with VicUrban for the proposal, which would see open space land owned by the developer become an alternative entrance to the campus, with the proposal receiving two objections after public exhibition in June.
University staff and students can currently enter the campus from Furlong Rd, Cairnlea, via Levenia St, which is a residential street.
The proposal, which would have university staff and students access the campus directly from Furlong Rd by cutting through land adjacent to Jones Creek, went before Brimbank City Council’s general purpose advisory committee (GPAC) on Tuesday night.
St Albans south resident Helen Van Keulen said it would not be fair to take away the only open space to which St Albans South residents had access, because once it was gone there was no getting it back.
“St Albans South residents don’t have any open space at all,” Mrs Van Keulen said.
She said residents were bound by the busy Furlong Rd and the railway line.
“There’s a bit of open space but you don’t let your children play near a railway line,” Mrs Van Keulen said.
She said there were other open space areas or parks nearby, but due to heavy traffic along Furlong Rd, some were difficult to access.
Brimbank City Council’s Agenda 21 committee member Jack Sheridan said the committee was neither for nor against the proposal to use the land, which is technically in Cairnlea, as another entrance for the university.
He said the committee’s only concern was with regards to open space.
Mr Sheridan made a recommendation to the council at the GPAC meeting that VicUrban provide 10 lots of the land for open space and for existing trees to be retained except where trees were hanging over buildings.
He said there were 172 eucalyptus trees of about 40 years old on the site.
A VicUrban spokesman said there were 112 trees on the site that were in good condition, with others in poor condition due to drought and would have to be removed.
The spokesman said the plans included planting 138 street trees and many hundreds of trees along Jones Creek, which runs through the site.
“There will be open space in Jones Creek Reserve, which is adjacent to the development (road),” he said.
The spokesman said 80 per cent of the trees on the 460-hectare site would be retained.
