A group of Keilor residents is worried about the location of a funeral parlour that could be built on a residential street.
Allison Monkhouse Funeral Directors has made a planning application to open a parlour at 36 Church Street.
Allison Monkhouse proposes to carry out minor works to a former church building on the site and
hold up to three funeral services a week.
Church Street resident Kevin Rowles, who lives opposite the site, said residents didn’t want to live near a funeral parlour.
“We dislike it, as do most people in the area,” he said.
“We’ll be looking at a lot of concrete and a ramp where they’ll drive the hearse up in order to wheel the coffin up to the church.
“The neighbourhood character will be destroyed.
‘‘It’s a non-residential use in a residential area.”
Fellow resident Angela Iskra said Allison Monkhouse should establish its new parlour in a more appropriate location.
“It’s right in a residential zone,” she said.
“We have real concerns. We have a kindergarten down the road, and we don’t understand why it has to be in amongst the houses and not on
the main street.”
A Facebook page opposing the application was set up last week and had 171 ‘likes’ when Star Weekly went to print.
Allison Monkhouse managing director Clive Allison said the business had been looking for a new site since closing its Brunswick chapel in 2013.
He said the Church Street site ticked all the boxes.
“We were attracted to the site by the fact that it has off-street parking for 20 vehicles and the fact that it had previous use as a place of assembly as a church and community centre,” Mr Allison said.
He said a project manager had visited residents in the area as part of the planning process.
“He found the overwhelming number of residents he spoke to supported the proposal,’’ Mr Allison said.
“We are now aware that a
number of residents have raised concerns and that an unsigned flyer has been circulated throughout the community.’’
Mr Allison said claims there would be significant structural works on the site, including the construction of a morgue, were incorrect.
Brimbank council city development director Stuart Menzies said the council had received 17 objections to the planning application.
He said the proposal would be presented to administrators at a meeting next month or in September.
