Older Doveton residents unhappy about 125-place ECEC service
Property
Older Doveton residents unhappy about 125-place ECEC service
Nov 13, 2023
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Older people in Doveton - a suburb of the City of Casey in Victoria - have voiced their concerns about a proposal to demolish three single storey homes and replace them with a 125-place early childhood education and care (ECEC) service.
The proposed three storey development would be built on land currently occupied by residential homes at 40, 42 and 44 Power Road.
Local resident Noel Johnston, an 89-year-old pensioner who lives behind the proposed site, is rallying his neighbours to block the proposed development, expressing concern about noise.
Mr Johnston lives on Oleander Street, backing onto the property. He lives opposite a children’s playground, and is not keen to be “sandwiched” by another.
“There are nine units here who don’t want it, we’re mostly pensioners and none of us want it behind us,” he told local news source Berwick News.
“We’ve already got a playground with kids yelling and screaming, now we’re going to have a centre behind us doing the same thing.”
Smart Planning and Design, who have submitted the proposal, believe the ECEC service is an essential part of the community, and has highlighted that carparking, along with the service’s proximity to public transport, should alleviate concerns about traffic congestion.
Mr Johnston said the avenues to oppose the development seemed skewed towards a certain demographic.
“They won’t give us copies because they said to just look at the computers, but we haven’t got computers,” he said.
“And when we wanted to know more they asked us to come down to the council, but we’ve got walkers and walking sticks, half of us can’t even walk.”
The applications advertising process was completed on 6 November, and is currently awaiting the final outcome.
