By J Slatter
Port Melbourne residents continue to voice their dissatisfaction about the Barak Beacon Point redevelopment and in a recent flyer, have called a meeting at 4pm on Monday 22 April at Julier Reserve Netball Club.
Residents are concerned about the proposed redevelopment the Barak Beacon Point site to replace 89 older style social dwellings with 408, social, affordable and market rental homes. The design consists of two huge buildings, nine and eleven stories high. Concerns have been raised about size of the development, heritage overlay and impact on the traffic flow and car parking.
A concerned resident said “documentation shows disregard for our neighbourhood character and the importance of preserving the historical significance of Garden City. The proposed design fails to consider neighbourhood character and proportion and scale of the proposed buildings are not compatible with the heritage areas surrounding the site. The design is massive, towering, and will dwarf the area”.
The design has no visitor parking and has inadequate on-site car parking with only 242 car parks for an estimated 1,200 residents and is expected to create long term impacts on street parking, traffic flow through our narrow streets, increased foot traffic.
The proposal incorrectly reports there are 233 car parks in the adjacent narrow streets when there are at most 58 (including beach parking). An objector said “residents will end up parking anywhere they can in all streets within a 5 or 10-min walking distance will be impacted. Cars will block driveways, access to beach parking, and impede traffic flow down our narrow streets”.
The traffic assessment fails to consider the significant impact on Rosny Street, Page Avenue, Dunstan and Howe Parades, and other streets. Traffic flow will be seriously impeded with proposed parking on both sides of these streets.
The report does not adequately assess the impact on the queuing of traffic in the mornings along Beach Road as those give way to the Barak Road left turn and turning around the roundabout. There is no assessment of impact on the car parking for the Netball club at Julier Reserve.
There is no adequate review of the wait time at Williamstown Rd and Beacon Rd intersection. The report states that a car can comfortably sit in the medium strip on Williamstown Road in peak hour. There has been no assessment on the impact of parking and public access to the beaches which will push more cars into Garden City, Ozone Court, Page Street, Edwards Avenue, and other side streets.
The report downplays the impact of the development on trees and many trees are not included in the report. Many valuable trees including spotted gums and banksias will be removed, further diminishing the character and visual value of area.
The new housing will be developed under a Ground Lease Model where Homes Victoria leases land to a project partner, Building Communities to finance, build, manage and maintain housing for 40-years, and the land remains in public ownership.
