Food court expansion could mean less parking at Westfield Doncaster
Parking spots will be axed to make way for more dining seats as part of a multi million-dollar plan to expand Westfield Doncaster. Here’s what’s planned.
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An expanded food court and more shops are on the menu as part of a $500 million boost to Westfield Doncaster.
But it will come at a cost of planned parking spaces.
Westfield wants to add 332 seats to the dining area facing the corner of Williamsons and Doncaster roads but the move means cutting 22 car spaces.
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According to a report prepared by Manningham Council — which approved the revised plans last week — Westfield believes the proposal won’t lead to parking congestion because the peak demand for the dining area will be in the evening when the centre itself and the surrounding road network will be off-peak.
Final plans for other elements of the overall redevelopment, which are expected to include a gateway tower in the northwest corner of the site, are yet to be submitted to the council.
Only Cr Paul McLeish opposed the proposal due to the loss of parking spaces.
“The proposal now increases the size of the dining room without providing an increase in parking,” he said.
“This is likely to be the first thing built and it will, for a period of time, reduce the parking at Westfield. If there’s one message I can send out loud and clear to Westfield it is that I will continue to fight for more parking.”
A Scentre Group spokesperson said recent customer feedback on parking had been “overwhelmingly positive” after about 575 additional car parking spaces were added to the complex in 2016.
“Many customers have been telling us that parking at Westfield Doncaster has never been easier,” she said.
“And as we move forward with upgrading the dining precinct, we are confident our customers will continue to have an improved parking experience.”
The $500 million project was made public in May 2016.
The overall plans are expected to add an additional 43,000sq m of retail floor space and 18,000sq m of commercial office space.
Also expected is an improved bus interchange at street level, closer to Williamsons Rd, with provision for buses to do a loop within the interchange.
The work is also expected to improve vehicle and pedestrian access to and within the centre, including relocating the existing main vehicle entrance from Williamsons Rd further north towards Westfield Drive.
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