An “oversized” Dandenong Community Hub (DCH) should be halved to keep it within budget, according to a Greater Dandenong Council report.
After years of debate, the facility at Clow and Stuart streets and Sleeth Avenue is still at concept design stage – despite plans to have it “shovel ready” by 2025.
Latest estimates are $65 million for the one-storey design, plus up to $15 million for a basement car park and up to $5 million a year to operate.
This is more than double its initial $30 million budget.
“Benchmarking against other hubs, including the newly completed Keysborough Community Hub, highlights that the Dandenong proposal is oversized relative to community needs,” the report stated.
“Dandenong is already well served for community spaces, and a hub of a more modest scale is more appropriate and financially sustainable.”
The report recommends a scaled-down design comparable to the recently opened $30 million Keysborough Hub – which was described as a “success”.
This would mean more than halving the building size from 3950 square metres to about 1800 square metres.
It might also be redrawn as a multi-storey building, with possible ground-level parking.
The report anticipates a backlash from the DCH community co-design group, which may see their work across 2024 and 2025 as a “wasted exercise”.
Under the current design, a basement car park was the “only option” to meet minimum parking numbers, according to the report.
It would mean the 7.9 hectare site would need to sprawl north to accommodate an access ramp for the basement car park.
This would conflict with the future Dandenong Market precinct – which is planned to become an eight-to-10 storey complex.
A business case to attract government funding would also be difficult, the report states.
In 2021, councillors voted for the DCH’s draft concept plan to specifically include a kindergarten, child-care and playground.
It would include maternal and child health, community meeting rooms, maker’s spaces, community lounge, kitchen and outdoor space, multi-use flexible spaces for all ages and abilities, co-work spaces and technology hub and a cafe.
In 2023, the council resolved to create a $2 million detailed design to have the DCH “shovel ready” by 2025.
Currently, the DCH’s concept design has daycare and kindergarten space that’s nearly double the size of Keysborough’s.
Its admin and community spaces more than 2.5 times the size.
However, the proposed Cranbourne Community Hub is a similar overall size to Dandenong at an estimated cost of $40 million.
The report argues that Dandenong was already “well served by a variety of facilities in the central area”.
“This observation does not imply that a community hub isn’t needed; rather, it suggests that a hub similar in size to other hub facilities would be appropriate.”
Greater Dandenong councillors are poised to vote on the report’s recommendations on 8 December.
