Progress Photos
Attention: Interested Stakeholders
The planned redevelopment of the Lions Senior Citizens Village located at 68-78 Summerhill Road, West Footscray is intended to occur over the ensuing 18 months. Please find below links to the supporting architectural and landscape drawings and reports associated with the planned redevelopment.
The Victoria Government has recently announced it will provide funding for a Proposal submitted by United Housing Co-operative (UHC) in partnership with Lions Club Footscray and as part of the Big Victorian Housing Build initiative. This exciting project will involve the demolition of the existing 21 single storey 1960s era dwellings and its replacement with 49 apartments offering high standards of internal and external amenity and accessibility, in a building that is part two and part three storeys in height, with a mix of one and two bedroom apartments in a building with four wings designed around a central courtyard. UHC will manage the apartments, which will be jointly owned with Lions Club Footscray. The UHC is a not-for-profit community housing provider.
The re-development will continue to provide much needed affordable housing for low income older people, predominantly occupied by women over the age of 55 years, including the current residents. The development will have a strong focus on sustainability, adaptability and ageing in place. The design will build on the legacy of the existing Lions Village, congregated around a central court yard with a community facility and UHC’s co-operative housing model. The new development will include a community facility, community garden, orchard and solar power.
Further details regarding the project, including a full set of architectural and landscape drawings and supporting reports (planning report, traffic report, waste management plan) are attached through following links on this web site.
Should you wish to raise any planning or design questions please contact Michael Dunn from Metropol Planning Solutions, town planning consultants, on michael@metropolplanning.com.au or 03 9882 3900.
Any questions on the ongoing management of the facility or tenancy arrangements should be directed to Peter Sibly at peter.sibly@unitedhousing.org.au or phone on 03 9689 8157, during business hours.
All feedback received will be considered by the project team. All opportunities to respond to the issues raised via changes to the design will be explored. The issues raised in submissions will be summarised in a consultation report that will be submitted to the State Government for approval. The report will be made available on the Homes for Victoria website and will identify each issue raised and how the project team has responded to it.
If you need assistance with translation please: please click on the “select language” drop down menu at the top of the page and select your preferred language.
If you need further assistance with either translations or audio/visual assistance please contact Fiona Chan at United Housing Co-operative on 03 9689 8157.
The Footscray Lions Co-operative Village will provide a great addition to this municipality providing high quality affordable and sustainable housing for low income residents in a community setting, assisting to maintain the diversity and of our wonderful municipality.
We look forward to the communities support for this exciting and innovative development which we believe will become a benchmark model for older renters and hopefully inspire other similar innovative social housing projects.
Thank you,
Peter Sibly, Project Director
United Housing Co-operative & Lions Club of Footscray.
08/10/2021
Please find below links to the supporting architectural and landscape drawings and reports associated with the planned redevelopment of the Lions Senior Citizens Village located at 68-78 Summerhill Road, West Footscray.
United Housing and its project team seek your feedback on the proposed design for an apartment building that will continue to provide affordable housing for low income older people and their carers.
Footscray Lions Co-operative Village – Architectural Drawings
Footscray Lions Co-operative Village – Architects Design Statement
Footscray Lions Co-operative Village – Landscape Concept Plan
Footscray Lions Co-operative Village – Planning Assessment Report
Footscray Lions Co-operative Village – Traffic Impact Assessment
Footscray Lions Co-operative Village – Waste Mamanagement Plan
The United Housing Co-operative Big Housing Build
Footscray Lions Co-operative Village
The United Housing Co-operative (UHC) secured a $17,300,000 grant from the Homes Victoria / Victorian Government Big Housing Build ‘Social Housing Growth Fund’ to re-develop the Footscray Lions Elderly Citizens Village in West Footscray.
UHC partnered with the Lions Club of Footscray (LCF) to construct 49 one and two bedroom apartments, to be built over three storeys for predominately women over the age of 55 years in high need for safe, secure and affordable housing. UHC will manage the site for over 20 years, jointly owned by UHC and LCF.
The design features four adjoining buildings congregated around a central courtyard with a community facility and shared communal spaces. UHC will be totally responsible for managing the Village under its Co-operative housing model. The new development will also include a community garden, orchard and solar power. The existing residents of the old Lions Village were re-located and are invited back to the re-developed Village upon completion and will join with another approximately 50 older women, partners and carers to become the tenant members of the Village.
The United Housing Co-operative is on track to finalise the development of its Co-operative Village in Summerhill Road, West Footscray by Easter 2025.
After working through major construction industry complications resulting in material and labour shortages and resultant price escalation, we have proceeded with construction works for our new exciting Co-op Village development with Devco Projects and Construction Management, and our project team lead by Legata project managers and Tandem Architects.
UHC Paris Wojniak commented that “the development will have a strong focus on sustainability, adaptability, ageing in place and place making. Our Co-op model works and provides a great alternative to other forms of housing”.
UHC brings years of experience in managing community housing in the Maribyrnong municipality under a co-operative model, and we firmly believe the co-operative model has many benefits for residents and the broader community. We are also open to expanding the tenant cohort in the future to include the concept of intergenerational housing where women may like to share with younger family members or carer, this is a popular model in Europe.
According to UHC’s CEO Peter Sibly: ‘This development will be a model for future low income housing for older renters for this municipality and for the broader nation. Tenant members will have the opportunity to be directly involved in all levels of operational decision making”.
UHC acknowledges Project partners include Moores Legal, Legata Project Management, Tandem Projects, ADP Engineering and Metropol Planning.
UHC congratulates the Victorian Government on this great initiative in building diverse and resilient communities, by investing in good quality social housing that will provide affordable and sustainable housing for many low income people for many years into the future.
Peter Sibly
CEO, United Housing Co-operative Ltd.
2/10/2024
