Share this petition with people you grew up in Glen Waverley or you think that it's worth saving neighborhood shops!

The iconic milk bar located at 60 Watsons Road Glen Waverley is at risk of being lost  to the ages, as an application for the development of three residential townhouses on the site has recently been approved by vcat.
The current owner of the property now wants to auction it with development plans forcing local small business dream investors to compete with big time property developers for the corner space.

Sign this petition if

• You live work or visit the area regularly and you were not aware of the planning application notice because of covid lockdown in July 2020.

• You live or work in the area and were not given a letter about the planning application in July 2020.

• You think that planning schemes should protect established neighborhood infrastructure and promote urban business.

• You think that having facilities including shops in walking distance from home is important.

• You think that council and other levels of government must be supportive of small business and proactively engage when needed to support a community business.

• You think that council and other levels of government must provide incentives to property owners to maintain and promote neighborhood businesses.

• You think that this space should stay open as a business to serve the community and others like it should be protected too.

The notice for the planning application was put up shortly after lockdown was announced for July 2020 which was part school holiday and remote learning.

The shop is of significant interest to many people in the city of Monash, people who would usually visit the area feel like they missed out on objecting to the application as they were not in the area to see the notice or discuss it through the schools and it's not clear if extra steps were taken in consideration to the lockdown restrictions to ensure potential 3rd party objectors could be notified.

Questions have also been raised about  elected councillors in the ward being notified of the application, whats the point of a planning notice if people don't know about it, we are sure they would have started discussion about the place which is significant to the local community.

Getting involved in a council process can be daunting and not all people who have objections feel comfortable (or safe) expressing themselves so its important to notify as many people as possible to ensure the planning process has a chance to be conducted fairly for the community.

Sign this petition email and speak to your elected rep or call the council on (03) 9518 3555 and let them know you were not notified about the application.

Despite the shop being in a school zone and an established dentist the property is classed as residential.
It may have been easier to defend the neighborhoods shop if business aspect was tied in with the surrounding zones as mixed use or other protective measure, the zoning may even prevent alternate  plans to even include a shop space on the west side of the property with the grz3 scheme.
The building and outside space consisting of a post box, telephone and bike rack was designed for a community shop and the shop is part of the neighborhood character and suburban culture.

The different levels of government might be focused on centralising economic infrastructure like seen in Glen Waverley Central and doesn't yet see the value in decentralised infrastructure like neighborhood shops.

But neighborhood shops have been cherished during the lockdown and have been part of mitigating the outbreak, allowing relationships to form in the neighborhood, providing easy access to goods for elderly and disabled people and many other great things.

Resilience in natural disaster like covid is important just as is the sense of community.

Great examples of what can be done in the neighborhood space this are the old milk bar on View mount road now called code 5.

So many people in the local community have expressed great ideas for the shop space including bringing back lollies) that would compliment the surrounding community and other nearby businesses and these  ideas need to be nurtured by council.

The milk bar has been around since the area was developed  and has served the neighborhood and visitors to the area well for most of its time. The  development of area in the late 60s and 70s had shops strategically placed around the area to allow people to access goods and services on foot and interact with others in the community. Everyone from children to the elderly and people with restricted mobility were able to easily access basic goods and services at the local shop.

People feel that kids should be able to have the same kinds of things we had as kids.

Recent discussions about the milk bar triggered nostalgic memories of getting snacks and 1cent lollies, hanging out with friends there and at the dam across the road to buying fireworks at the shop (when it was legal) and lighting bonfires on Guy Fawkes day in the 70s.

In contrast to the original design, with more transport options people generally leave their home without interacting with each other these days.

Rumors circulating that around 2012 the current owner took control of the property but may not have maintained the building to help keep it operational for the business which contributed to the decline in quality in the shop.

Some people have said that prior to covid the tenant wanted to use the premises as a coffee shop but was not able to as the electrical infrastructure at the front of the premises was not maintained by the owner, so the shop had no power except from an extension cord making it harder to qualify for a permit to have a coffee shop.
As the tenants were from overseas they may not have understood the processes which could have been used to make the business work.
They went overseas around Christmas 2019 and got stuck because of covid and probably didn't want to return.

The electrictiry box was then disconnected at the owners request in March 2020.

The owner did not seek a new tenant for the property even though many people were eager to keep it open and applied for a planning permit and it's sad to see that a property owner not willing to compromise with the community.

Council and other levels of government should not accept that the hostile investor game that pushes small business dreams away and destroys community resilience is just the way it is, council are in the best position to seek change for the community and should engage with owners to ensure the premises are able to provide the neighborhood with services especially if an owner has no interest in cooperating with the local community or occupants of the premises.

The owner can do what they want within the framework provided by the different levels of government and its up to everyone to change it if we want to make our neighborhoods great and if we want to prevent rude and arrogant people from making decisions for the area without caring to consult.

The council has 28 days from the 6th of October to appeal the VCAT decision if they believe VCAT made a mistake in the way it applied the law.

Good luck to everyone.

https://www.monash.edu/news/opinions/classic-milk-bar-more-than-a-suburban-icon