Hannah Hammoud
Brimbank council is being told to keep its ‘hands off’ a car park in Sunshine, as it seeks to house Australia’s first Vietnamese museum
Sunshine is positioned to become the home of the Vietnamese Museum Australia (VMA) with council entering a Memorandum of Understanding with the VMA to explore the opportunity.
The council-owned Durham Road car park site has been poised as a potential location for the museum, however some residents have raised concerns around the impact this will have on parking availability.
Local resident David Simpson has described the move by council as ‘ludicrous’.
“How dare council think about selling off community assets for a minority project like this one,” he said.
“To build a museum on Durham Road which is the only small car park on the south side of the overpass is ludicrous. There are doctors, dentists, pathologists, hairdressers, accountants, lawyers, etcetera on this side of town where people need parking to access these services, not to say parking for the patrons of the Derrimut Hotel which is the only hotel in Sunshine. Some days you cannot even get a spot in this little car park let alone in the adjacent streets.
“Hands off our only little car park on this side of town.:”
The VMA said it is hopeful the museum will be based in Sunshine, citing a ‘great synergy’ with Brimbank, a place where more than 30,000 Vietnamese Australians call home.
Brimbank mayor Ranka Rasic said this potential development could deliver meaningful and generational change for Brimbank, by leveraging major investment and infrastructure opportunities.
“The longstanding and vibrant Vietnamese community that makes up the Sunshine CBD of today has helped make it a regional destination to experience authentic Vietnamese food, street life and culture,” she said.
Brimbank council city futures acting director Leanne Deans said any decision to sell the car park will be made following community consultation.
“Council commissioned a traffic and parking assessment of the Durham Road car park that informed its initial consideration of the proposal, and is also completing a parking management plan, which will be available in draft as part of community consultation,” Ms Deans said.
“Any decision to sell part of the council land at the Durham Road car park would be subject to a decision at a future council meeting, after community consultation has taken place including a hearing of submissions on March 4. At this stage it is anticipated that a council decision will be made at the council meeting on March 19.”
Council will be seeking community feedback on the proposed sale of council land between January 22 and February 19.
Details: yoursay.brimbank.vic.gov.au/
