By Violet Li
Shri Ram Janaki Charitable Trust Melbourne has proposed to change the use of its land in Cranbourne South to a Hindu place of worship and meditation centre.
The land at 104 Browns Road in the Green Wedge Zone is a low-density rural residential lot that currently contains a single dwelling, a swimming pool, a shed with an existing concrete slab, and paddocks with livestock. It is accessed through Browns Road.
The Trust intends to transform the shed into a place of worship, and apart from strengthening the existing structure, no extensions of any improvement are envisaged.
Holt MP Cassandra Fernando has written to Casey Council to support the application, stating that establishing a place of worship and meditation centre by the Trust would be welcomed by the Hindu community in the electorate, and across Casey.
“Hinduism is followed by 7.1 per cent of Holt residents, making it the third-largest religion in the electorate,” she wrote.
“However, I have been informed by my office that currently there is only one Hindu place of worship to support the religious and cultural needs of the growing community.”
The operation hours will be 9am to 1pm and 5pm to 9pm from Monday to Sunday. A maximum of 50 attendants will be expected on the weekend night hours.
The facility will host six to eight Hindu cultural events annually. It will also run language classes on a fortnightly basis. One of the rooms in the facility will be converted into a meditation centre.
The proposal provides 15 standard car parking spaces and two disabled car parking spaces based on an average car occupancy of 3.33 persons.
The car park will be accessed from Kelly Road and the existing access for the residence on Browns Road will be retained.
The peak traffic hours are projected to be between 5pm and 9pm from Friday to Sunday, with 64 trips per hour.
The applicant believes the proposed place of worship will not impact traffic along Browns Road, Kelly Road, and their associated intersections.
No vegetation will be removed on site.
Six existing trees at the site have been assessed and two of them were identified with low retention values, not recommended to be incorporated into any design.
The removal of trees on site will be dependent on permit applications approved by responsible authorities.
The planning application will be advertised until 2 April.
