Office apartment plan dispute

He said together with local residents, they were anxious Stirling would lose part of its identity.

Mr Maio, who grew up in Stirling, said many people had close ties to the area and hoped to continue its tradition.

‘We were market gardeners from Stirling, my Nonno (Grandfather) was the original market gardener on Oden Road, so a lot of history is here through our family.

‘Obviously that’s why I wouldn’t want Stirling to change because we’d like to keep that history going.

‘Stirling is known for its large blocks, beautiful homes, everybody knows everybody, not a city suburb, which is what they want to put here, which would be just outrageous,’ Mr Maio said.

The proposed development is predominately three storeys, with an additional fourth storey on the western half of the site.

The building, which was submitted in a development assessment panel application, will provide 20 one-bedroom apartments and 24 two-bedroom apartments with ground-level office tenancies.

An underground car park providing 64 bays has been proposed, with another 20 car bays at ground level.

The shop owner said he thought parking would be a problem because of 16 car bays being removed from an existing car park.

‘The biggest issue is the parking; we get over 1000 people through our front door every day and the majority do drive and they’re taking away 16 of the shopping centre car bays, which have been there from 30 years ago.’

Stirling Council Manager for Approvals Greg Bowering said the City had made inquiries into the proposed underground car park and how it would affect the existing businesses and traffic.

‘Once further information is received, the City’s engineering design team can review the proposed impacts in full,’ he said.

Mr Bowering said although the proposed building differs aesthetically to the existing buildings in Stirling, there are no heritage guidelines preventing it from going ahead.

‘As the subject site and surrounding area is not the subject of character protection guidelines or heritage considerations, there are no set provisions in terms of the aesthetic of the area,’ Mr Bowering said.

However Mr Maio said many of his customers had come to him concerned over the proposed development.

‘The residents that I’ve spoken to ” and I’ve seen it on my Stirling IGA Facebook page ” don’t want it, full stop; they’ve said they want a development there but they don’t want a development of that size there.

‘It’s known for its market garden days, when people got their bigger house with the veggie patch in the back yard, and the younger generation are moving into the area and that’s what they want.’