Hannah Hammoud
Australia’s first Vietnamese museum has officially found a place to call home in Sunshine.
At the council meeting on March 19, council moved to proceed with a proposal to sell part of the Durham Road car park in Sunshine directly to the Vietnamese Museum Australia (VMA).
The council-owned Durham Road car park site has been a source of controversy across the municipality, with many residents and business owners raising concerns around the impact the sale will have on parking availability.
In the same meeting that council moved to sell part of the car park, it also accepted a petition with 211 signatures objecting to the sale.
Council also cited a letter of support for the development with 1868 signatures.
Councillor Jasmine Nguyen said that while the sale of part of the car park will result in a loss of 37 car spaces, council has created a Parking Management Strategy which outlines measures to mitigate the impacts.
“…This museum will serve as a beacon for cross-cultural understanding. It’s not just a museum for Vietnamese Australians – but for the broader Australian community. Let that be clear,” Cr Nguyen said.
“It will honour the rich heritage and contributions of the Vietnamese Australian population whilst also highlighting the shared experiences of migrants and refugees from all backgrounds.”
Cr Thomas O’Reilly was the only councillor to vote against the sale, and said that a “once in a lifetime project” must be done in the right place.
“The Durham Road car park services a range of businesses including multiple medical spaces that do not have their own car park. In particular the potential lack of spaces in close proximity to these businesses will make it harder for the elderly and vulnerable peoples to access these services. It will also increase the amount of cars parked in neighbouring residential streets with patrons of local businesses, residents and museum/function centre visitors to be looking for on-street parking spaces at various points in the day and evening due to their reduced capacity at the Durham road site,” he said.
Several business owners within the Durham Road precinct have voiced their collective concern about the museum’s location, including Anthony Hoang from Sunshine Primary Health.
“I’m all for having a Vietnamese Museum in Sunshine. I just feel that where they want to put it is a bit clumsy and a bit rushed from councils point of view. They have a really good opportunity to put Sunshine and Brimbank on the map but this isn’t the right place,” he said.
