Glenroy ``s..t'': developer
Suzanne Robson
03Dec07
A MAN who wants to open a 24-hour car wash and petrol station in Glenroy has told worried residents they have nothing to fear because they already live in a "s..t" area.
"(You) have s..t people with a s..t area,'' Michael Shaya said at a public meeting last week. ``I can't see the problem; we are doing something nice for the area."
Glenroy resident Kelvin Param, who is opposed to the plan, defended his suburb last week. ``Glenroy is a great neighbourhood, it's unpretentious, and a great place to live. We love it.''
Residents are campaigning against Mr Shaya's plans to redevelop an existing service station and convenience store at 91 Widford St and add a caretaker's dwelling and car wash, fearing the redevelopment would attract hoons.
"It is well-known that hoons like to congregate in groups to show off their latest modified cars,'' Mr Param's wife, Lydia, said at the meeting. ``What better place to congregate at any time of the day than at a car wash with a convenience store.''
But Mr Shaya, who would manage the station and live onsite with his wife and children, said hoons and even drugs were already a problem in the neighbourhood.
``There were needles there before we even started here,'' Mr Shaya said.
Resident Maree Bridges said the development was more suited to Glenroy Rd or Pascoe Vale Rd, and she feared for her family.
``The planners may think this is an exaggeration, but we have lived here for 24 years and don't need people coming in and endangering our lives,'' she said.
Mrs Bridges, who has three daughters, said she was offended advertising flyers showing scantily clad women washing cars.
But Mr Shaya said he had replaced the flyers, and was prepared to change the hours of the car wash.
North-west Ward councillor John Kavanagh questioned whether a 24-hour car wash in the area was economically viable.
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