By ALESHA CAPONE
THE suburb of Sunshine North is set to become known as a hub for health and healing hands.
Last week, Brimbank City Council approved a two-storey medical centre with 14 practitioners to be built at 424 Ballarat Rd, near Northumberland Rd.
The council’s three administrators also approved an ancillary dispensary, 42 car parks, the erection of business signs and access alterations within a Road Zone Category One at the site.
The location previously housed a service station, but the land has been unused since the buildings were demolished in the 1990s.
The new medical centre will operate from 7am to 11pm seven days a week and also sell prescriptions directly to patients but not the general public.
Staff at the centre will include general practitioners, a pathologist, dentist and radiologist.
An officer’s report to council revealed that within a five kilometre radius of the new medical centre, there are eight other medical centres and a ratio of 41 doctors to the population.
In addition, two recently approved medical centres within a three kilometre radius will create jobs for at least another 18 doctors, once they are built.
The potential overprovision of medical services in the area was one of the objections raised by a member of the public, during the Ballarat Rd medical centre’s advertising process.
Five objections were initially lodged against the proposal but two were later withdrawn.
“The main concerns raised by the objectors were in relation to the principle of locating a medical centre in a residential area, the impact the medical centre may have on other such uses in the immediate area and traffic safety and parking issues,” the report said.
Residents expressed concern about drivers trying to avoid traffic lights by cutting through the medical centre’s car park from Ballarat Rd to Northumberland Rd.
However, the council said that the centre’s car park must be secured after hours to ensure people cannot congregate there and vehicles cannot travel through the site.
“The medical centre is well located to service the needs of the local community, adjacent to a main road and within walking distance to other non-residential uses, public transport and a Principal Activity Centre,” the report to council said.
