A PUSH to have the Parkdale Station building heritage protected has failed.
Kingston Council had been advocating to have a heritage overlay placed over the station in the Kingston Planning Scheme. In a statement, council confirmed that the state government had turned down the request.
The state government is building skyrail to replace two level crossings at Warrigal Road and Parkers Road. A new Parkdale Station will be built as part of the project.
Kingston mayor Steve Staikos said that council had wanted to place a heritage overlay over the site to “protect important historic buildings and irreplaceable trees”. Councillor Tim Cochrane called the decision to reject the heritage push “deeply troubling”.
“In a community survey on the project more than 60 per cent supported council’s request for the Victorian Government to preserve and relocate the heritage station buildings,” Cochrane said. “Our community is already deeply concerned about the impact that the level crossing removal works will have on the village atmosphere of Parkdale. This decision is deeply troubling, and casts further doubt on whether Parkdale’s unique character will be taken into consideration during this major project. The Level Crossing Removal Project has a responsibility to be aware and respond to local character, particularly in such a sensitive location as Parkdale.”
Kingston Council says that it contacted the planning minister asking for permission to begin the heritage overlay process in April. The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, the body overseeing Heritage Victoria, was contacted for comment.
At a 4 August meeting the Heritage Council of Victoria, a separate independent body to Heritage Victoria, decided that Parkdale Station should not be included on the state’s heritage register because it “is not of state-level cultural heritage significance”. That followed a recommendation in May from Heritage Victoria’s executive director that the site not be included on the register.
The News asked the LXRP what it plans to do with the old Parkdale Station building but did not receive a response by publication deadline.
In June the LXRP released its preliminary plans for the Parkdale Station precinct. At the time it said, “we’ve heard from locals about what they love about their suburb, and how they want the project to feature new trees, landscaping and greenery, walking and cycling paths, community gathering places, and recreational and sporting facilities” (“Preliminary Parkdale designs published”, The News, 8/6/22).
Kingston Council has drafted its own plans for the rail redevelopment. It has asked the state government to build a new shared use path and refurbish the train station building (“Council presents plans for Parkdale skyrail”, The News, 3/8/22).
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 21 September 2022