500 apartments

By Kelly Yates
A PROPOSED affordable housing development with more than 500 apartments and townhouses could be getting the green light from Casey Council for the Casey Gardens Residential Village site in Narre Warren.
Paul Little from Aurecon Australia spoke to Casey councillors at the general purposes committee meeting on Tuesday night about the proposed affordable housing project at 6 Fullard Road.
The Casey Gardens Residential Village is a privately-owned family business which provides long-term residential accommodation and a tourist caravan park.
They currently have 165 people residing in the park.
According to Mr Little, the proposed development will feature eight buildings reaching heights of between three and seven storeys, with studio apartments and one, two and three bedroom apartments.
There is a central open space area, which is set to be developed into a half basketball court and playground.
The complex will also feature community facilities such as a general store, café, coin laundrette and a manager’s office.
A new connection bridge for pedestrians has been proposed, allowing access to the Narre Warren Railway Station and the Webb Street shopping precinct.
Mr Little said the project meant the caravan park would be replaced by upgraded affordable housing.
The proposed project will be funded through a National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS).
NRAS is a government incentive designed to encourage institutional investment in affordable rental housing.
It is geared towards young workers and families, students and pensioners who find it difficult to enter the rental market, not social or public housing.
According to Mr Little, the two goals for the project are to increase the supply of affordable housing and improve affordability for eligible tenants.
“It is aimed at middle Australia,” he said.
“There’s a critical shortage of affordable housing within the City of Casey. Casey Gardens is targeted to address that need.”
According to Aurecon Australia, residents of the caravan park were notified of the development plans back in August 2008.
Director of Casey Gardens Residential Village Chris Sleigh told the News he had seen people come and go over the years with possible development ideas for the site.
“In the 35 years we’ve owned this place nothing has ever eventuated,” he said.
“But we’ll look at all things that come along. At the moment there’s no contract of sale or planning permits approved, so it’s still in the early stages.”
The planning application for the project was lodged with Casey council in June 2009.
The application will come to Casey council’s planning committee on 23 February.