My Dream For The Future Of Glen Waverley And Brandon Park

Glen Waverley is a major activity centre that is moving along nicely with development. It will have two train stations in the future, thanks to the Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) or orbital train line passing through it. It is gifted for future urbanisation.

My dream idea is to bring the Glen Waverley train line underground just after Syndal station and extend the line to Brandon Park which is another major activity centre. Glen Waverley and Brandon Park would be urbanised in the process. I know that I wrote a post saying that I believe that the Glen Waverley line shouldn’t be extended to Knox City but instead have a fast bus running between Glen Waverley and Knox City. Why then choose Brandon Park for my idea instead of the proposed line extension to Knox City.  

Brandon Park is only 3km from Glen Waverley whereas Knox City is double that distance. Therefore, there will be half the tunnelling to be done. Also, the proposed train line extension to Knox City will have two new stations (one next to the Eastlink as a Park and Ride station). My idea to extend to Brandon Park will only have one new station. Therefore, the cost is much less than half with my idea. People commuting from Knox City could catch the bus or drive 4km against traffic to Boronia Station. With my Fast Bus idea, they would have approximately a 13 minute bus trip to Glen Waverley Station. Either way their best option is the bus to Glen Waverley to catch the train. 

A station at Brandon Park would be right next to the Monash Fwy, Springvale Rd and Ferntree Gully Rd. Therefore, it will have a large Park and Ride facility. It will service the areas of Mulgrave, Wheelers Hill, Scoresby, Rowville and Lysterfield. Areas which have poor access to high quality public transport. The proposed extension to Knox City also aims to service these same suburbs (except Mulgrave) along with others, hence a similar goal is achieved with a station at Brandon Park. 

A trainline to Brandon Park will also directly service corporate estates to the south of the Monash Freeway which are part of the Monash National Employment and Innovation Cluster or the Monash NEIC. These estates form part of the Monash Technology Precinct (which is larger than Melbourne's CBD) and are a short walk to Brandon Park. They have already seen mild growth in recent years with a number of 4,5 and 6 story office buildings springing up directly south of the freeway. And the government has huge plans for growth in this precinct, thus the office towers popping up. Incidentally, the proposed Westall Rd extension will pass through this precinct, adding to its potential for growth. 

The future Monash SRL station will be just 2 km west from Brandon Park and will connect to Glen Waverley. Hence it makes my idea of a train station at Brandon Park look unfeasible. But the Monash SRL station won’t have a large park and ride facility (I don’t think it will have one at all) and is not easily accessible like Brandon Park. The Monash station entrances will be in a side street. A station at Brandon Park will be right next to two major roads as well as freeway exits and entrances. Additionally, the Westall Rd extension which is another major road will be nearby as well. Below is my dream for the future of Glen Waverley and Brandon Park.

GLEN WAVERLEY: I would bring the Glen Waverley train station underground in a new location directly beneath Century City Walk (where the cinemas are). I’m guessing the station will need to be approximately 30 – 40 meters underground as the Glen Waverley line will pass underneath the future Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) orbital line. The platforms will be extra long to match future trains that would be used once the Glen Waverley line is taken out of the city loop. The same will be done at the Brandon Park Station. 

A passageway deep underground would connect this new underground Glen Waverley Station with the SRL station (which will be roughly under the Glendale St Car Park) and escalators would connect it with the bus interchange, which will be moved to the Century City Walk site and be underground.  

I would completely level Century City Walk (including the Novotel) and build two fifty story mixed-use skyscrapers designed in a way that all enjoy views. The train station would be built beneath these two towers. These sky scrapers would sit on top of a five story podium set back from Kingsway behind the existing shopfronts (with the existing passageway connecting it to Kingsway). The first two stories of the podium would be devoted to entertainment, leisure and dining. The third, fourth and fifth levels of the podium will be devoted to offices. Above the podium would be a sky garden which would sit between and around the two towers. These twin towers would house a grander Novotel hotel (this is or has been one of Melbourne’s busiest hotels) along with residential and serviced apartments. It will be majority residential. 

The basement levels beneath the podium would be for underground car parking as well as the bus interchange. Long, steep escalators would take one down to the train station underneath. There would also be numerous large elevators to take commuters up and down between the station and the ground and podium levels. This site would be grand. It would resemble Hong Kong style living. 

The site of the current above ground railway passage (1km long) between Syndal and Glen Waverley stations would be redeveloped (from where the train goes underground). Actually, all VicTrack owned land - including the current bus interchange as well as the land currently consisting of parking for commuters (a large section of it is adjacent to the current bus interchange) - would be redeveloped. 

Accordingly, the stretch of land between Syndal Station and Myrtle St would be developed from left to right as follows (from a helicopter view – west to east). A new four story commuter car park would be built on the site of the current single level car park at Syndal Station. Then after the train goes underground there will be a long row of four story apartment buildings above the train line. This section is 900 metres long, therefore it would house many hundreds of residents and would be worth a lot of money selling it to developers. 

Now further along the railway passage to the right of Myrtle St. The area of land where the train station and bus interchange currently sit would be developed into two towers. A 10 story office tower to the left and a 30 story residential tower to the right. The land directly above the future SRL train line (that will cut across this section of land) would be developed into greenspace that will sit between these two towers. Additional greenspace would be created to the right of these two buildings (where the current Glen Waverley Station entrance is). 

Going further to the right, google maps reveals a ten story apartment building that currently exists. This building has an activated ground level and an arcade that runs perpendicular to Kingsway. A corridor can be created that continues from this arcade, through both new towers and a path through both greenspaces. The two new towers would also both have an activated ground level. 

With the train line being underground, Myrtle St could then connect with Euneva Ave to create a half ring road as a much needed bypass. Thus, motorists will avoid the traffic congestion of Kingsway and Coleman Parade. Hence, the corridor and pathway would run between Kingsway and the new section of Myrtle St. At the Kingsway end of the corridor, a new pedestrian crossing would connect it with the council’s proposed public square and new buildings. A large car park currently sits on this site. Additionally, this corridor would also connect nicely with the entrance to the SRL train station at Glendale St, by means of a foot path on the greenspace. 

BRANDON PARK: My dream for the future of Brandon Park is firstly to have an underground train station. As I already mentioned, my idea is to have the Glen Waverley line extended underground to Brandon Park. Not to the shopping centre though. The new owners of the shopping centre “Newmark Capital” are very forward thinking and are already moving along with redevelopment plans for the centre. They have submitted applications to build a seven story mixed-use building and a nine story apartment building on the north eastern part of the site at Brandon Park Shopping Centre. I’m certain that they won’t stop there. It’s a good thing for this activity centre. 

The site for the new underground train station is across the road from the shopping centre, where the Village Green Hotel and some car yards are. If you take the entire block that includes Rosemary Ct (that contains single story trade and industrial buildings), then you get a super block for redevelopment more than twice the size of the Brandon Park Shopping Centre. The only part of this super block that faces low density residential properties are the sites of the Volvo and BMW caryards. That means that the rest of this super block can have high rise buildings while the sites of Volvo and BMW can have shorter buildings. The buildings will be set back from Springvale Rd any way so as not to block the sun of the low density residential properties. 

Let’s assume that the Village Green Hotel and its large car park can be acquired for the site of the underground train station. This is a huge property in its own right. It is 190 meters by 190 meters or 36,000 square meters. What would I build there? I would demolish the building, dig down and level out the entire site. First, I would build the underground train station and stabling facility along with an underground bus interchange. Above that, I would build two layers of underground car parking (for residents as well as for the car yards – explained below). Above that I would build a two level podium that spans two thirds of the site. Around that will be its own road with vehicle drop off points for commuters. The bus interchange as well as the resident’s car park will have their own entrances on Ferntree Gully Road as well as on Springvale Road. There will be two entrances to the train station for commuters. One to the east and one to the south.

The ground level of the podium will be devoted to car yards. Their vehicle deliveries will be made at night. The second level of the podium will be for dining and entertainment for the public as well as private facilities for residents. There will be many dining options along with cafés and cheap eateries. From the second level, I would build a foot bridge that goes over Springvale Rd and connects with the Brandon Park Shopping Centre. This allows easy access in both directions. I would also have long escalators as well as elevators connecting this dining precinct with the train station below. 

Above the podium I would build two wide towers 10 stories (north facing) and 20 stories (west Facing) and a thinner tower 30 stories in height (south facing). These will be apartment buildings and could potentially have over 1000 apartments. There will be a huge sky garden for residents that would surely be Melbourne’s largest. 

Moving along to the site of Volkswagen, Nissan and Mitsubishi car yards. I would build 30 story twin towers. One apartment building and one office/hotel building (being offices it may be less than 30 stories). These two buildings would be set quite back from the road with plenty of greenspace and pathways in front of them, around them and behind them. Multiple levels of basement car parking would be underneath the buildings and the greenspace. The office building would have a secure paid car park beneath it and the apartment building would have resident parking underneath it. 

Moving further along to the sites of Volvo and BMW. I would build a supersized seven story car park for train commuters as a park and ride facility. Obviously, others such as office workers will use it too. That can’t be helped. It will still serve its purpose though. It will also be set quite back from Springvale Rd with ground level parking in front of it for lingering vehicles with a 1hr parking limit. 

I thought of an idea of making it a slow release car park so as to not to overfill the train carriages as well as to allow later arrivals an opportunity to get a spot. Being slow release would also help avoid traffic chaos as everybody won’t come at once. It would work this way. The first two levels would be accessed only between 6 - 7am. The next three levels would be accessed between 7 – 8am. And the top two levels would be accessed from 8am onwards. This system (as do other park and rides) encourages people to get there early so as not to miss a parking spot. Therefore, overcrowding of train carriages during peak times as well as traffic chaos is avoided. Commuters missing a spot can park their cars in the paid secure car park for the day.

For many motorists, as soon as they exit the freeway inbound, they can enter this car park to their left. Many others would come from Ferntree Gully Rd to enter this facility. Once they have parked their car, pathways through the greenspace would lead them to the train station entrances. Others would have breakfast at the dining precinct before catching their train. 

The evening rush hour shouldn’t be an issue as commuters won’t return to their vehicles all at the same time. They will be returning in clusters, one train at a time. Additionally, the school traffic would have eased and the tradies would have cleared off the roads by the time the majority of commuters return to their vehicles and drive off. 

Rosemary Court would be zoned with a height limit of ten stories. Including the mid rise buildings of the Brandon Park shopping centre and the corporate estates of Mulgrave, there would be a large area of urbanised activity around this train station.