AUGUST 3, 2016 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
NEWS + SPORT + THE WEST’S BEST PROPERTY GUIDE
(Luke Hemer)
Fruits of labour loved At the age of 90, Williamstown fruiterer Tony Napoli has earned some rest. These days, he sleeps in a bit – until about 3.30am – before going to work at the Ferguson Street fruit and vegetable shop that bears his name. He still works seven days a week at the business he started in 1968, 17 years after arriving from Calabria in Italy. “I came in ’51 and for one year I worked here in a factory, Thompsons Foundry,” Mr Napoli said. “Because I was born in the country, I opened here.” There are now four generations of the well-known Napoli family in Williamstown – Mr Napoli welcomed his seventh great grandchild into the world this month. Three of his four sons work in the shop and Mr Napoli comes in each morning to help. “You gotta be occupied in something,” he said. “I help the kids, I have few coffees, a little bit of talking. “It’s a very friendly people up here.” His son Frank, who gets up at 2am to buy fresh produce from the market, said his father enjoyed coming in to help set up. “He got a bit upset when we got the forklift because he thought he wouldn’t be needed,” Frank said. Goya Dmytryshchak
TONY NAPOLI WITH HIS GREAT GRANDSON PHOENIX
Twin towers top Forges By Benjamin Millar The heart of Footscray could be transformed by a plan for twin towers soaring up to 19 storeys above the old Forges department store site. A proposal by the Banco Group for 14 Albert Street includes 235 apartments in two towers rising above a six-storey streetfront building comprising a 120-room nursing home, a medical centre, six-screen cinema, restaurant, supermarket, café and specialty shops. The development would be the tallest in central Footscray, and housing would include 146 one-bedroom and 89 two-bedroom units. An urban context report by G2 Urban Planning, submitted almost a year after the council requested further information about the proposal, has been altered to increase the
number of ‘night-time activities’ planned in the development. The report notes Banco’s recent completion of the Footscray Plaza redevelopment, directly south of Forges, has “heralded significant change in this part of Footscray’s retail core”. “The proposed development will further diversify and solidify the retail offering at the core of the activity centre, and meet both housing and employment objectives for the Footscray major activity centre.” The Forges department store has stood vacant since November 2008 and the site is currently used as an open carpark “ripe for redevelopment”. The report concedes the proposal is higher than the council’s preferred 10-storey cap. But it suggests the project will “strike a suitable
balance between the site’s capacity to be developed and the preferred heights set out in the planning scheme”. The report notes most of the proposed apartments are tailored at the affordable spectrum of the market, “nevertheless their amenity will be high”. It is also proposed that the southern part of Albert Street, north of Paisley Street, be redeveloped as a shared pedestrian-vehicle zone. The urban context report suggests the development will stimulate the local economy by concentrating residential growth around central Footscray and its retail heart. “The proposed design provides a lasting landmark for the Footscray major activity centre, and should be supported.” Artist impression of the proposal from the corner The plan will go to council in coming months. of Albert and Paisley Streets. (Supplied)
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