By LAURA WAKELY
THE HEIGHT and positioning of high rise buildings has emerged as the key issue of the Sunshine Town Centre Structure Plan.
The plan, which aims to make Sunshine a key central business district in Melbourne, sets out building restrictions, accessibility and transport, services and economic direction for Sunshine centre.
The plan concentrates on the area of Sunshine and Albion bounded by Ballarat Rd to the north, Anderson Rd and Talmage St to the west, Derby Rd to the south and a network of streets in and around Martin St and Kennedy St to the east, dividing the town centre into four districts.
Administrators heard residents’ feedback to a draft copy of the plan at a Brimbank City Council meeting last week.
One resident slammed the council for failing to give residents early notice of the consultation process for the plan, calling it “undemocratic”.
She said she was alarmed by proposed heights of up to nine storeys in some areas.
“I feel I have been kept in the dark about planning changes,” she said.
“High-density living strategies will not solve the housing shortage or issues of affordability.
“It will put a strain on existing services, which are already severely challenged and I am also concerned that developers will not have the best interests of the area in mind.”
Sunshine Business Association Bruce White said the organisation was also concerned that nine-storey buildings would jeopardise heritage areas.
Another submission asked council to keep buildings up to four storeys as a maximum in height to enable services to meet the needs of new residents.
But Beyo Group Director Chris Wilson said height restrictions would “significantly impact” on the developers ability to create a commercially viable and architecturally pleasing building.
The Beyo Group currently own a site on Service St near the corner of Dawson St, which Mr Wilson said the company was proposing to build a mix of retail and commercial tenancies, office space and one and two bedroom apartments in an eight storey building.
The council will consider the submissions and consider a final draft of the plan next month.
