Residents continue to ask why a proposed Dandenong Community Hub lacks a “major playground” despite multiple neighbouring lots of council-owned land.
The DCH’s detailed designs are expected to be released by the council this year for the long-awaited centre, which would front Clow Street between Sleeth Avenue and Stuart Street.
Dandenong Community Association spokesperson Siliva Mastrogiovanni says a large playground would make the hub and nearby Dandenong Market a “destination for families and young people”.
However, residents have not been told why the Council land bordering King St and a parcel of land next to the Dandenong Community and Learning Centre were “out of scope” as possible playground sites, she says.
“We are passionate about combining the hub with a playground for the same reason it has been done with the Springvale Community Hub and is being done with the Keysborough South Community Hub.
“It is how you make a hub intergenerational”
At a council meeting on 10 June, city futures executive director Sanjay Manivasagasivam said the hub’s site and size were identified in a council decision in 2021.
Any expansion of the land to include sites to the north was a decision for councillors, he said.
However, Mastrogiovanni says the 2021 report didn’t set the “northern extent of the hub site” and so still left space for a larger playground.
At a February co-design workshop, residents suggested moving the early years services “90 degrees” to combine the courtyard and small play area to create a larger playground, she says.
“Despite this making more efficient use of land, residents were told in February that this wasn’t within the current scope and would need to be discussed by councillors first.”
Sue Smith, also from the DCA, called for the residents co-design group to be part of forming the council’s Dandenong Market Precinct Plan.
“They both need to be worked on together so why isn’t the resident co-design group involved in the finalisation of the Dandenong Market Precinct Plan as well?
“We can get on with creating the heart that the community, young and old needs, and also a drawcard that will attract shoppers to the Dandenong Market and people to the Dandenong Community Hub.”
In 2021, councillors voted for the DCH’s draft concept plan to specifically include a kindergarten, child-care and playground.
It would include maternal and child health, community meeting rooms, maker’s spaces, community lounge, kitchen and outdoor space, multi-use flexible spaces for all ages and abilities, co-work spaces and technology hub and a cafe.
