• Footscray, Yarraville, Braybrook Star

BY Charlene Gatt

17th November 2009 11:05:19 AM

Vision … An artist’s impression of the housing development.

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The Western Bulldogs and Maribyrnong City Council are at loggerheads over a planned housing development.











THIS is what the southern end of Whitten Oval will look like if plans for a 251-unit affordable housing development are approved by the state and federal governments.

In plans seen by Star, the Western Bulldogs and HomeGround development will provide 54 Common Ground supportive housing units with “tailored” on-site support services and 36 one-bedroom, 120 two-bedroom and 41 three-bedroom affordable housing units across three buildings.

Each building is expected to stand five storeys high.

The development, which is based on the Common Ground model, will have CCTV and will be staffed by a round-the-clock concierge who will control access to the Common Ground building and monitor access to the affordable housing units.

At least two staff will carry out concierge duties after hours. Entry to the building will be through the concierge and by access card only after hours.

The development will include on-site medical, counselling, therapeutic, recreational and vocational services.

The development will also include a social enterprise café, a 1.2 km ‘Tan of the West’ running track, a community Learn to Swim and hydrotherapy centre and community fitness centre that will supplement the separately funded community sports/multi-purpose hall, which is due for completion in early 2011.

Saracen Properties, who will be the property development manager for the project, is contributing $5 million to the development. The Bulldogs and HomeGround have applied for a Federal Government grant to cover the remaining amount.

The bill to change the use of Whitten Oval has already been passed in the Lower House and was due to be debated in the Upper House yesterday, at the time Star went to print.

Bulldogs CEO Campbell Rose said construction was likely to start in the first half of 2010 if the proposal got the nod from the state and federal governments.

The development has received overwhelming support from the community and stakeholders, including the AFL, Early Childhood Management Services, Grocon Constructors, ME Bank, Tweddle Child and Family Health Service, Magistrate John Doherty, Common Ground and affordable housing and support service Wintringham.

However, the $88.5 million project has become fraught with controversy since Maribyrnong City Council voiced its objections against the development in early October.

Concerns include a loss of public open space, the development being placed on a parcel of land the size of a “postage stamp” and creating an enclave of some of the area’s most disadvantaged.

The parcel of land in question was used as a mound for spectators to sit on and watch the Bulldogs in home and away games.

The area, which contains contaminated soil, has sat disused in the 12 years since the Bulldogs played their last home and away match at Whitten Oval.

State Planning Minister Justin Madden is currently the responsible authority for the site, however the council has written to Mr Madden requesting it be reinstated it as the responsible authority.

“It’s too much of a concentration in a very tight spot and it’s taking up open space,” Cr Dina Lynch said.

At last month’s council meeting, Crs Lynch and Catherine Cumming berated the Bulldogs for not consulting with the council or the community on the proposal.

However, in a meeting between Bulldogs president David Smorgon, HomeGround CEO Stephen Nash, James O’Brien from Enhance Corporate, Mayor Michael Clarke and Maribyrnong CEO Kerry Thompson on 20 August, the Bulldogs and HomeGround briefed the council on the proposal and asked for the council’s advice on the best ways to engage the community.

The Bulldogs and HomeGround also told the council it intended to start community consultation once they had briefed the full council.

In an email to Ms Thompson the following day that has been seen by Star, Mr O’Brien requested a meeting with the full council to brief them on the proposal.

Mr Nash repeated the request in emails sent to Ms Thompson, and later councillors, on 16 October and 2 November.

They will brief the full council on 1 December, after setting a date last week.

“We’re very much looking forward to having a discussion with the full council about the proposal and having dialogue about including any feedback,” Mr Nash said.

Despite meeting with Bulldogs and HomeGround on 20 August, Cr Clarke last week denied seeing any plans for the development, and said the reason he didn’t disclose the briefing at last month’s council meeting was because “it was nothing more than concept”.

“To the best of my recollection, HomeGround came out with David Smorgon and it was very broad brush, and I’ve got to say, to this day, there’s still no proposal before council,” Cr Clarke said.

“I’ve yet to see any detailed plans at all.”

Bulldogs CEO Campbell Rose said he was perplexed by the council’s response to the proposed development when up to 26 people sleep on the Whitten Oval every night.

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