• Footscray, Yarraville, Braybrook Star

17th November 2009 11:05:19 AM

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Precede: The housing development is the latest in a series of stoushes between the Bulldogs and the Council. Charlene Gatt takes a look at the simmering issues.









BULLDOGS CEO Campbell Rose sought an 11th hour State Government intervention from Planning Minister Justin Madden in July 2008 over a planning application for a Victoria University education centre in Whitten Oval’s John Gent Stand.

Mr Rose told The Age the club “was on the verge of being brought to its knees” because the council had refused the planning application.

The application for the education centre featured five main components across two levels and would be accessible by a number of VU faculties.

The council refuted claims it had refused the planning application and said it had been out for public comment at the time the Bulldogs sought the intervention.

Mr Madden’s intervention effectively made him the responsible authority for the Whitten Oval and its redevelopment. The council resigned as the Whitten Oval Committee of Management following the furore.









IN A joint venture with Prizac Development and Tattersalls, the Bulldogs lodged a planning application for Club Edgewater, including a hotel, 70 poker machines, a bistro, café and entertainment facilities. The development also included a liquor license that would run from 7am to 3am.

More than 300 objections to the proposal were lodged with the council. The council refused to grant the permit in May 2008, branding it an inappropriate development for the Edgewater Estate.

The biggest bone of contention remains the inclusion of 70 poker machines in an area already inundated with gaming venues.

The Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation granted the development a gaming license for 70 poker machines in December 2008.

This year, the matter was heard at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. The Bulldogs, Prizac Development and Tattersalls appealed against the council’s refusal to approve the planning permit, and the council appealed against the VCGR gaming licence. A decision has yet to be made.





PUBLIC HOUSING





THE Bulldogs and HomeGround Services put forth a vision for an $80 million public housing development at the southern end of Whitten Oval, adjacent to West Footscray train station.

The development, which is currently being considered by the State Government, is expected to include a mix of affordable housing, social housing, transitional housing and crisis accommodation.

HomeGround Services CEO Stephen Nash said the two high-rise buildings would house up to 250 units over five floors.

Mayor Michael Clarke said the parcel of land was a “postage stamp” and that the development would “stick out like a sore thumb” compared to the redeveloped Whitten Oval.

Councillors also raised concerns about the development using up public open space and whether a football club was the best organisation to look after the homeless.

The council voted last month to be reinstated as the responsible authority for Whitten Oval.

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