Wyndham council has approved plans to develop land in Hoppers Crossing into an education centre.
At the 10 February planning meeting, councillors unanimously backed developing land at 47 Abbotswood Drive, which would involve demolishing the existing dwelling and construction of a new building.
The proposed centre is planned to offer both after school tutoring services and adult education services for English language and mathematics related education courses
The centre involves the development of a single-storey building containing nine classrooms, a kitchen, storage room, bathrooms and an office/reception area to accommodate a maximum of 50 students.
The education centre is proposed to operate Monday to Friday between 10am and 8pm and Saturday to Sunday between 9am and 4pm.
The development includes 22 car parking spaces located to the south of the proposed building and along the western frontage to Tarneit Road and proposes to utilise the existing vehicle accessway located along Tarneit Road.
According to the officers report, the proposed development will generate local employment opportunities for residents and make entering the workforce easier.
It is also assessed in the report that no new vehicle crossovers are proposed, ensuring that there would be no reduction in off street parking and minimal impact to the movement of traffic in the area.
The on-site parking areas were deemed to address traffic and access considerations, and the scale and nature of the use of the centre would cause little to no noise impacts.
Owned by council, the land was previously planned to be part of a widening of Tarnet Road, a project that will not go ahead.
Cr Shannon McGuire moved an amendment asking the chief executive to bring a report to the 24 February council meeting outlining options of selling the land to the applicant.
“In principle I have no problems with the development itself, I think it is a fair and reasonable use of land on this major road,” Cr McGuire said.
“I think this is a really great initiative and a really good opportunity for people in the community… we just need to clarify a few things in relation to land ownership as well, so it’s important to get a briefing on it.”
