Jennifer Pittorino
Footscray locals are pleading with the state government to stop their neighbourhood from being taken over by a new multi-storey healthcare centre.
As previously reported by Star Weekly the planning permit for this nine-storey health centre was knocked back by Maribyrnong council at its November meeting.
Despite this refusal, the final decision is with the state government given the large cost of the build.
Nearby home owner Anson Le said the proposed use of the land at 5-11 Geelong Road, Footscray, is not suitable for the development proposed by Erica Heathcare Partners.
“A small number of households, including myself, received a letter from Urban Planning Collective informing us of the proposal and where we could submit feedback,” he said.
“The letter was delivered on January 24, informing everyone that a decision could be made by February 5 at the earliest.
“It only really gave us a few business days to digest the proposal, meaning we had less time to put forward our objections.”
With limited community consultation and a number of site concerns, Mr Le is adamant this is not the right location for a build of this size.
“It is going to be completely dominant in the skyline and is going to be directly overlooking every single direct neighbour’s backyard as it will be 40 metres high,” he said.
“The building is too big, it’s going to completely dwarf everything around this neighbourhood which is predominantly made up of low rise residential homes.”
But, Mr Le says the main reason residents are against the development is due to the lack of engagement and discussion. He said the community had been completely ignored in the process and there had been no direct communication with the community.
Residents have created a Change.org petition against the development which has accumulated more than 180 e-signatures. They have also sent a number of objections through to the Department of Planning, as well as various correspondence with Footscray MP Katie Hall as well as councillors.
Maribyrnong council chief executive Celia Haddock said council did not support the proposal in November and that hasn’t changed.
“Council believes the development’s overall scale would overwhelm the residential area to the south and east of the proposed development,” she said. “Council has expressed a need for the state to engage meaningfully with council and residents regarding the proposal.”
A Department of Transport and Planning spokesperson said the plans for the proposed private Footscray facility are still available online.
“No decision has been made and we welcome submissions from the community which will be considered as a part of the decision making process.“
A spokesperson for Erica Healthcare Partners said “We do not wish to comment as the matter is currently being considered via the planning process”.
