Durham Road car park works

The development has three elements:

• The Vietnamese Museum to be developed and operated by Vietnamese Museum Australia
• A public plaza to be developed and managed by Brimbank City Council
• A reconfigured car park with a new access to be developed jointly by Brimbank City Council and the VMA, and then managed by Council
   

The museum project is being funded by:

• Australian Government grant funding of $9.7 million to support the construction of the Vietnamese Museum Australia under the Investing in Our Communities Program and other government funding.
• Victorian Government funding of $8.67 million to support the build and fit out of the Vietnamese Museum Australia.
• VMA fundraising efforts will contribute to any outstanding building and fit out costs and then the ongoing operation of the museum.
• Council and VMA are sharing the costs of the reconfigured car park.
• Council is advocating to both Federal and State Governments to access funding for the plaza.
   

Council sold its land to the VMA in order to facilitate the project, after the original site in Footscray didn’t eventuate. When selecting the site, Council chose a location directly opposite Sunshine Station to maximise the cultural and visitor experience and help with the transformation of the Sunshine CBD.

This is complemented by significant Council support through the design and planning process and now into construction. 

Council is also seeking to add to the VMA project, through the delivery of the proposed plaza which will act as a welcoming place for museum visitors and the broader community. 

To inform the Council decision to sell the land, extensive due diligence, including car parking analysis was undertaken and presented to Council, as well as a formal community consultation process.

Of the community consultation received, 60% of the 189 written submissions were supportive of the sale, on top of a letter of support with 1868 signatures and a petition against with 196 signatures.

Upon consideration of the community feedback and technical advice, Council resolved to sell part of the car park to the Vietnamese Museum at the March 2024 Council Meeting.

For more information, please see:
https://yoursay.brimbank.vic.gov.au/durham-road-car-park

The Durham Road Sunshine car park closed on Thursday 13 March 2025. Council erected three signs in the car park on 28 February stating that it will be closed from 13 March.  A letter was also sent to the neighbourhood with this information before the closure. The information is also available to the public on the project webpage http://brimbank.vic.gov.au/durhamroad 
 

Some limited parking will still be available on site, but mainly on-street parking will need to be used. See below for further information.

Following construction approximately 24 car spaces will be available. 

Yes. We have asked the builder to try to ensure the Durham Road access and the eight parking spaces next to it, and Watt Street will stay open for the public during construction, as much as possible. However, there will need to be some scheduled closures for construction; these will be limited; and managed by the VMA builder to ensure public safety.

The current access will remain open most of the time. If the builder needs to close the access for a specific activity, such as an oversized delivery, they will give specific notice to the neighbours and make special traffic management arrangements. 

It is estimated that construction of all three elements (the new Vietnamese Museum, the reconfigured car park and the public plaza) will be completed by mid-2026.

The new car park is expected to be open by mid-2026.

The final design of the car park is still in development, but it is expected that there will be about 24 spaces provided.

Yes, there were 82 spaces in the Durham Road car park prior to construction commencing in March 2025, and approximately 24 spaces will be provided once the museum, plaza and carpark works are complete in 2026. 

Council considered the reduction in spaces and community submissions on the matter before making the decision in 2024 to sell the required land for the development of the new Vietnamese museum. The findings of a detailed traffic and parking impact assessment prepared for Council supported this decision. 

For more information please see: https://yoursay.brimbank.vic.gov.au/durham-road-car-park

Yes, Council will provide some new on-street parking spaces in Sun Crescent, Sunshine where there are gaps currently. Council will also assess the need for increased compliance with time restrictions to increase parking turnover during construction of the works, and after the museum opens. We will also evaluate whether changes are needed for any of the time restrictions to improve parking management. 

Yes. When the development is complete the rear laneway to Watt Street will be open. It will be widened in the section behind the car park and the museum building and operate in both directions to allow access to and from the museum, the apartments and shops. 

In January 2025 the VMA received a planning permit for the proposed museum from the Minister for Planning, who is the responsible authority for any application for use or development to which ‘Significant Economic Development’ Clause (Clause 58.22) applies, as it is a State Government funded project. 

Under this planning provision, the planning application was considered and approved by the Department of Transport and Planning without public notice.

Following the Council decision to sell land to the VMA, Council entered into a Contract of Sale which had a number of provisions for VMA to meet prior to the land transaction, such as obtaining a planning permit, appointing a builder and having the required funds to complete the construction of the museum. These provisions have now been met and the land was transacted in March 2025.

Council and the VMA have a Section 173 Agreement which sits on title that restricts the use of the land for the purposes of a cultural museum for a 50-year period (unless otherwise agreed by Council after 30 years).

Council worked with a specialist landscape architecture firm to commission the concept plan for the plaza. The concept design was shaped by targeted engagement with Traditional Owners Wurundjeri Council, a range of multicultural groups, Brimbank Community Voice and the Brimbank Youth Council. 

Subject to confirming funding, Council will commission the detailed design of the plaza for construction. This process may involve changes to the current concept images presented, in order to meet budgetary and construction constraints. 

The new plaza will be a welcoming public space for everyone to enjoy, that honours the Traditional Owners and celebrates all refugee and multicultural communities in Brimbank.

The plaza has been designed to be a safe and well-lit public space, open to the public at all times, with plenty of seating, garden beds and public art by a local Indigenous artist. 

The large gum trees already on site will be retained, and more trees will be planted.
The plaza will serve as a forecourt to the new museum and a connection between RT Pollard Gardens and Durham Road, Sunshine.

There is a requirement to formally consult on the naming of the plaza and a legislated process associated with it. In February 2025, Council completed consulting with Traditional Owners – Wurundjeri to arrive at an appropriate design and name for the plaza. 

At the 18 March 2025 Council meeting Council endorsed ‘Wominjeka Plaza’ as the proposed name for the new plaza. Meaning ‘welcome’ in the Woiwurrung language of the Wurundjeri people, ‘Wominjeka’ was the name recommended by Wurundjeri Elders during consultation on the plaza design. 

Consultation on the proposed name closed on 15 June 2025. Council is currently considering the feedback and it is expected that a report will be presented to Council for a decision at their meeting on Tuesday 19 August 2025.

The building site is already established with hoardings and fences erected. The construction of the Vietnamese Museum will start in early April 2025 and continue until mid-2026.

The car park reconfiguration and the plaza will be constructed following the museum work and is expected to start in 2026.

McCorkell Constructions is the builder responsible for the development of the museum building. The contact person is: 
Pye Bennet, 
McCorkell Constructions
Tel: (03) 9243 6000