By Alesha Capone
A planning application for a six to eight-storey aged care and retirement home in Werribee has been lodged with Wyndham council.
The $20 million development, which also includes a medical centre and food and beverage premises, would be built at 74-76 Cottrell Street and 108-112 Werribee Street – opposite the Racecourse Hotel.
The application has been lodged on behalf of Heritage Care, a residential aged care provider which operates in Victoria and New South Wales.
A town planning document included with the application said the development would include 41 independent living apartments, 132 residential aged care rooms, two café tenancies at ground level, including the opportunity for outdoor seating/dining towards the intersection of Werribee Street North and Stawell Street.
The application also included plans for allied health facilities at the ground and first floor levels.
A total of 129 car parking spaces will be provided, including 47 spaces for the medical centre, 41 spaces for the residential independent living units and 39 spaces for residential aged care.
According to the application, a further 43 bicycle parking spaces will be provided, along with communal spaces, multi-purpose, dining and lounge facilities.
The proposal comprises a podium of two levels, with two “tower” elements on top.
The northern “tower” would comprise a U-shaped aged care facility of four additional levels, which would total six storeys in height (21.8 metres).
The southern tower would comprise independent living apartments of six additional levels, totalling eight storeys in height (28.2 metres).
A traffic report, prepared by Traffix Group, says the proposed development site is located within the Werribee Principal Activity Centre, which provides access to a wide range of everyday services such as supermarkets, banks and restaurants.
The site is also very well serviced by public transport.
“Notwithstanding that, we do not expect any material on-street parking demands to be generated by the proposal, we note that casual observations of the surrounding area suggest that on-street parking is under-utilised and that any potential demands could be accommodated on-street without significant impact to the surrounding uses,” the report stated.
