MC Square Doncaster: Manningham ratepayers to fund $3.4m fire cladding works

The full cost of overhauling a community hub in Melbourne’s east due to a fire safety risk has been revealed – and ratepayers will pick up the bill.

Manningham Council will $3.4m replacing panels on the outside of Doncaster’s MC Square over the next 12 months due to a fire safety risk.

Ratepayers will foot a multimillion-dollar bill for a council in Melbourne’s east to change the appearance of its community hub after it was deemed a fire safety risk.

Manningham Council will spend $3.4m replacing panels on the exterior of its MC Square building in Doncaster throughout 2023, with works to start in mid-February.

The works will begin almost five years after the Victorian Building Authority’s statewide cladding review, completed in early 2018, found combustible aluminium composite panels at the building.

Scaffolding will be in place around MC Square in Doncaster for 12 months while panels are replaced on the building’s exterior.

The council unsuccessfully tried to get compensation from Cladding Safety Victoria to cover the works, which will make the square compliant with current building standards.

Manningham Council chief executive Andrew Day said the council had no alternative but to use its own funds, which had been allocated in its 2021-22 and 2022-23 budgets.

“When it (MC Square) was constructed 10 years ago, the flammable cladding issue was not clearly identified and despite looking at all the courses available to council, there is no option to recover these costs,” Mr Day said.

The council revealed the cladding issue in December 2019 and was told by the VBA there was no need for urgent action or to close the square.

Prior to publicly revealing the issue, the council spent $20,000 on an independent review to determine the next steps, and later took the consultant’s report to the Building Appeals Board.

MC Square, which is opposite the council’s Doncaster Rd offices, is home to an art gallery, a library, a kindergarten and other community services.

Mayor Deirdre Diamante said scaffolding would be installed around the square and would be visible for roughly a year while the panels are replaced.

Workers are also set to occasionally undertake small jobs inside the building including waterproofing and engineering checks.

Cr Diamante said access to the square would be unaffected and its services would continue to operate as normal while the works are completed.

“So many important services operate from our much-loved MC Square and we will do our

best to minimise disruptions to service providers and guests during the works,” she said.