March to April 2021 - stage one community consultation summary

Throughout the first half of 2021 Council completed early investigations for the site to assist with identifying proposed building elevations, pedestrian and traffic improvements, enhancements to the surrounding street landscape, as well as linkages and landscape enhancements with the VicTrack land which sits between the carpark site and the FJC Rogers Reserve.

Also during this time Council undertook extensive community consultation (including distributing 5,000 bulletins to the local community twice during March and April, and several face to face sessions) to provide information on the proposed carpark and sought feedback from the community on:

• how they would use the carpark
• what important outcomes they wanted for the carpark
• how the carpark could benefit the community.

We received over 110 submissions from our community, with the key issues being:

• the design should reflect the character of Heathmont
• keen to see design concepts and understand the building mass in the context of the site
• traffic management both vehicular and pedestrian for Canterbury Road and adjoining streets
• a need to understand what impacts there may be on the existing environment and what landscaping improvements were proposed, including proposed tree removal and offset planting and adjacent open space improvements, including the existing playspace
• an interest in community activation opportunities

This community feedback and discussions with key stakeholders is greatly appreciated. In response to the feedback, Council has prepared a concept design and landscape design, and identified traffic management improvements, forming the basis of this next round of community consultation.