Big change coming to Dunkeld

Within the project Management District 1D of the Rosebank Urban Development Framework, the blocks bounded by Cradock Avenue and Oxford, Rosebank and Bompas Roads are to “undergo fundamental change”, according to a town planning document.

What is now an area of mostly two-storey buildings will see four-to-six storey buildings, with greater floor area ratios and coverage.

The plans also include an emphasis on public transport and pedestrian and cycle routes.

“This bold new direction of transformation is not taken by the council lightly. The intensification of areas such as District 1D is a fundamental building block of a restructured, more sustainable city, and District 1D is to be one of the flagships of this transformation,” stated the document.

The changes to land-use would bring with it changes in traffic volumes and patterns, which the compilers of the document have taken into account.

Among the proposed upgrades were the widening of Oxford Road, the upgrade of the T-junction at Smits and Oxford Roads, the closure of median openings in Oxford Road at Kent, Hume and Eastwood Roads, the widening of Bompas Road between Oxford Road and Cradock Avenue, the redesign of a one-way traffic loop around the Gautrain shaft in Cradock Avenue, and the redesign of Cradock Avenue between Jellicoe Avenue and Rosebank Road.

The planting of trees and landscaping of islands and pavements would accompany these changes.

Another proposed change would be the upgrade of Cradock Avenue as a “boulevard parkway”, with Cradock’s East-side intersections with Kent, Hume and Eastwood Roads treated as “pedestrian and cycle priority intersections”.

The redesign of the intersections on the West-side of Cradock would “denote resident-priority access”.

The document also took into account street-side parking and the upgrade of local services.

Residents needn’t fear that the city council would bulldoze through these proposals, as the document called for extensive public participation.

A final draft of the document would be circulated for comment, “such comment (is) to be submitted to the council by 13 September. Based on consideration of these comments, a final document will be submitted by 27 September”.

Rosebank ward councillor Tim Truluck commented, “I’m happy to see this area redeveloped, as there are some vacant stands that are a nuisance. If the developers do what they say they want to do, it will be interesting to see how it integrates into the Rosebank node,” he said.