Looking Back

The waste-to-energy plant is said to process up to 100,000 tonnes of waste, delivering approximately 10 megawatts of electricity. (Greater Southern Waste Technologies)

100 years ago

12 March 1925

Swagmen a nuisance

Swagmen are stated to be more than a nuisance in Garfield. According to reports, they consider the building in the Garfield recreation reserve as their special property and if the doors are locked they have no hesitation in breaking them open. The “sundowners” have also installed themselves in the pavilion at the tennis courts and treat the members as intruders. The police have been instructed to give the visitors some kind but firm advice.

50 years ago

11 March 1975

NEW MOVE ON POULTRY FARM

Removal of a controversial poultry farm in James Street Dandenong has come a step closer.

Dandenong Council at its last meeting agreed in principle to a cluster housing development for the site. Details of the 212 unit housing development were revealed exclusively to the Journal in October last year. The plan is for a project similar to St James Village (directly opposite the poultry farm). The poultry farm has been a bone of contention among local residents for some time.

20 years ago

14 March 2005

Metro 3175 building work to start in ‘second half of year’

Greater Dandenong Council expects preliminary work to start on the $250m redevelopment of the former Dandenong saleyards any day. The council is working in partnership with the State Government’s residential development arm, VicUrban, to transform the land on Cheltenham Road into what will be known as Metro 3175. VicUrban said it expected major construction work to start in the second half of the year. Stages one and two will see 145 houses built on the southern section of Cheltenham Road on land that was once the saleyards’ holding paddocks. Metro 3175, to be developed over nine years, will include 1400 mixed-density homes and a population of about 3,500.

5 years ago

10 March 2020

Waste-to-energy anger

A community conference on the proposed waste-to-energy plant in Dandenong South has been slammed as “insincere and meaningless.” Cr Matthew Kirwan and colleague Maria Sampey were among around 100 concerned residents who packed a council meeting room for the conference. There was no shortage of questions when the audience was given the microphone for a brief period prior to the meeting’s end, with attendees questioning the age of the technology being introduced and the potential environmental impacts and emissions of the plant. “From the heart of a community member … to the applicant, take the community concerns into your consideration and prioritise, and take a look at the failed cases around the world, not only the good case studies,“ one resident pleaded. A spokesperson for the EPA said they appreciated the community’s concern. “From here, an independent report will be produced. EPA will use all this information in its assessment of the Works Approval application to make a final decision.”

Compiled by Dandenong & District Historical Society