Tuesday, 27 August, 2024
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MPs rally for colleague
Junkyards in the Wedge
Timeless toxic tip
Cannons fire on City
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On home stretch Lyndale Secondary College student Savannah, 13, pictured, is limbering up ahead of a rare opportunity in the spotlight. She and Dandenong Primary School student Hamsini, 12, have been selected as principal dancers for next month’s Victorian State Schools Spectacular at John Cain Arena. For more on the talented duo, turn to page 6 (Stewart Chambers: 426720)
Barriers drawn Greater Dandenong Council is not against the redevelopment of Sandown, it’s more a debate of how it happens. That was the argument of site owner Melbourne Racing Club during day one of the Sandown Racecourse Advisory Committee hearings on 19 August. However, the council countered that it wasn’t just questioning how. There were also questions
of when things happen and how they are paid for. The timing of the various stages of the controversial 7500-dwelling, 16,000-resident estate was a source of conflict. According to the MRC’s “indicative” staging plan, development should start at the northern Princes Highway end of the 112-hectare horse and motor-racing facility. It would enable horse racing to continue during the initial stages of the 20-year timeline.
However, Greater Dandenong Council would prefer initial building at the southern railway station end. About half of the dwellings are proposed for this high-density sector, the so-called ‘town centre’ around the historic grandstand. And it was critical to take advantage of the nearby Sandown Park railway station, the council submitted. There was more than one schism between MRC and various stakeholders.
Greater Dandenong wants 20 per cent of the dwellings to be “affordable”, the MRC wants 5 per cent. The council was also wary of bearing the “financial risks” for infrastructure. Government agencies also argued for more information on flood impacts from Mile Creek, noise and air quality impacts and for earlier appropriate development of the heritage grandstand. For more on the story, turn to page 4
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By Cam Lucadou-Wells