Council is proposing to purchase a parcel of State Government-owned land at 150 Cambridge Road, Kilsyth, so it can continue to be used as community open space.
The State Government-owned land was once a part of the former Yarra Hills Secondary College site.
The State Government approached Council in 2015 to buy the land, however Council opted to negotiate a 20-year lease for the southern portion of the site, which Council currently uses and maintains, and also includes a dog off-lead area.
Since then, the State Government has re-zoned the northern, 3.6 hectares portion of this land to prepare it for sale.
The Kilsyth community then strongly advocated to Council to purchase this northern parcel of land to ensure that all land at 150 Cambridge Road would be kept as public open space.
Walling Ward Councillor, Len Cox, said that the Kilsyth community and surrounds had thrown their heavy support behind the proposal to purchase this section of land.
“The community have let us know, in no uncertain terms, that they would like to see this land used for public open space for decades to come, and I think it’s our role at Council to act on the community’s behalf,” Cr Cox said.
“One of the key objectives in our Council Plan is to create connected and healthy communities, so to be able to retain and utilise land such as this for that exact purpose is of the utmost importance.”
After its initial request for the State Government to gift the land was rejected, Council has agreed in principle to purchase the land for $6.44 million, which is a discount of 50% below current market value, subject to community feedback.
To help fund the purchase, Council is proposing to sell off four smaller, empty parcels of land in Kilsyth and Mooroolbark that have been deemed to hold limited community benefit.
“The proposal means that current and future public open space funding that is generated within Walling Ward would be used to purchase the land,” Cr Cox said.
“So in essence we’d be able to buy a beloved piece of community land without using ratepayer’s money, and ensure the land is protected as open space from here on.”
The four proposed parcels of land to be sold are:
- 182-184 Cambridge Road, Kilsyth
- 9A Wannan Court, Kilsyth
- 16 Ellis Court, Mooroolbark
- 9A Tinarra Court, Kilsyth
Each of these parcels of land would undergo their own community engagement process with surrounding residents, who will be notified by direct mail if this proposal progresses.
“We’ve agreed to this purchase in principle, but we now want to make sure this is what the community wants. We’ll be providing an opportunity for locals to provide feedback on this proposal before any final decision is made.”
Local community members will have until Wednesday, 23 February to provide feedback on the proposal.
The $6.44 million offer has an upcoming deadline, which has resulted in the shorter than usual community engagement period. Extending the engagement period past this deadline would potentially mean that the asking price of the land may rise due to current market trends.
