by Sahar Foladi
A much-loved circa-1890 Dandenong home infested by squatters is not protected by a heritage overlay and may be demolished.
The idea of what some people described online as a “great piece of history” being replaced by “mass townhouses” has disappointed the community and Facebook users.
The post sharing the demolition news carried a comment that “it just needed some love and kindness.”
Greater Dandenong Council’s city futures executive director Sanjay Manivasagasivam said a private building surveyor issued a demolition permit for 164 Foster Street, opposite of Dandenong Plaza however a date is not set for the job.
“Our planning team has not received a recent planning application for this site with the last planning permit being issued in July 2017 for the use of the land for an office and display of business identification signage.
“We were recently made aware of squatters at the property and are working with the property owner to resolve this situation.”
The uninhabited property had become a target for squatters, who entered the building from the rear and left behind junk, piles of rubbish, a Coles trolley, chairs, with charring around a glassless window.
Situated at a prime location, the corner of McCrae Street, the 1218 square metre property was last sold by McLennan Real Estate, also reported by Star Journal in 2016.
It was described to be in Edwardian style with high ceilings, ornate plasterwork, four-bedrooms and two-bathrooms within the residential growth zone.
Christine Keys, president of Dandenong and Districts Historical Society, says she’s “very sorry” whenever she hears of period houses demolished in any suburbs.
In a moment of nostalgia, she shares her grandmother lived opposite the property and she saw it throughout her childhood.
“It was typical of those houses that were around at that time.
“There was one on the opposite corner, very similar to it and was pulled down for the Plaza.”
However, she says the building had been renovated some 20-30 years ago by a previous owner to give it touches of a “much older house” than what it was.
“The gargoyle had been put on in this century, by the last owner of the house that would’ve been sold 20 years ago.
“Quite a bit of renovation went on, they tried to give it a look of a much older house than it was – that would be the reason why it’s not listed in the council heritage (list). “
She wishes more councils could adopt the same law as Geelong, which protects their heritage houses from demolition and only allows renovations.
“You can see the houses of the periods, street by street, even houses in the 1940’s had been kept.”
