Korumburra Hub Permit Granted by Council. Designs and other information is shown in this article.
Council today granted a planning permit for the Korumburra Hub.
This normally would have been approved by the planning department but since there were 12 objections, including one submission, the application was referred to Council for determination.
The permit calls for various further information to be supplied satisfactory to Council and this is pretty standard sort of requirements. Some of these requirements concern the objections raised and some are again just standard requirements in most permits when granted.
As a significant public building this is an opportunity for Council to demonstrate leadership and set an example in built form design, sustainability, and Net Community Benefit in a focal location to complement the existing Activity Centre. The Korumburra Community Hub was a Council Priority Project which was first formally endorsed on 26 July 2017 as part of the Korumburra Revitalisation Project and was a Strategic Objective of the 2017-2021 Council Plan. Initiated by the then Councillor group, their choice of location was on the railway land putting the Hub location squarely within the town centre. The location was altered by the officers after the Councillors were removed from office. Many in the community think the new location is less than satisfactory but have settled for this to get the Hub built.
The proposal is for a double storey building with public access from Little Commercial Street at both levels. The building includes library, offices, meeting room and flexible / lunch area. The block of land being used has a 10m drop from highest to lowest point and represents typical steep Korumburra terrain. This design neatly accommodates this issue allowing for 4 disabled access carparks each with their own ramp to gain access to the door. The north-eastern such ramp and the way it crosses back and forth over the steps pathway suggests Council might need to keep skateboarders away as it looks not unlike a skatepark design.
Ground floor (465m2) Includes flexible/lunch, foodbank, waiting, Government services, consulting, offices, circulation, lift, cleaner/laundry, electric/communications, server, bathrooms, kitchen, rotary store, furniture store, plant, airlock, and entry.
First floor (817m2) Includes, library, historical society, circulation, tea point, meeting rooms, staff work room, computers, bathrooms, lift, airlock, and entry.
Features of the design include windows in a curved building around several trees, large windows to public area and cantilever to the eastern elevation.
No car spaces are to be provided on site. An area for bicycles adjoins the north-west corner of the site.
The objections primarily include:
• Residential amenity impacting 2 Victoria Street including overshadowing, overlooking, traffic and mechanical noise;
• Inadequate car parking available close by the Community Hub and for the Activity Centre;
• Other traffic, car parking, loading and unloading, and time limit car parking issues in and around Little Commercial Street;
• Absence of streetscape elevations;
• Inconsistent with the bequest of the site to the people of Korumburra;
• Absence of satisfactory walkways to Commercial Street; and
• Topography not suitable for the community Hub.
Whilst the objections are addressed adequately by the officer’s report, it should be noted that 29 car parks spots are to be removed by this development. The other issue that appears to not be resolved is the access through the private building to the east. When the private building is closed direct access from the main street will not be available.
The loss of car parking spaces is due to needing to be compliant with the Victorian Planning Scheme and Australian Standards; the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA) for access to the Korumburra Community Centre; and site entry to the Korumburra Community Centre that compliments the architecture of the building. The disability act is an important and necessary consideration. The other two are merely to make it look attractive and to ensure the remaining car parking spaces are safe for people to use. Currently the car parking spaces are on a rather steep slope and represent an unacceptable safety hazard for those using those spaces.
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