Council has formally moved to purchase State Government-owned land at 150 Cambridge Road, Kilsyth, so it can continue to be used as community open space.
On Tuesday, 8 March, Councillors unanimously voted to note the feedback they had received through community engagement, agree to the formal offer from the Department of Treasury and Finance to acquire the land and to investigate and progress the sale of four parcels of land to fund the purchase.
Walling Ward Councillor, Len Cox, said the Kilsyth region needed open space, and buying 150 Cambridge Road would keep the parcel in community hands.
"This land will become a focal point in the area of Kilsyth," he said.
"With more and more backyards disappearing into housing, this kind of open space is crucial and will be needed more and more as years go by.
"It's badly needed as extra open space for the town and I have no doubt that, with the improvements Council will make over time, this area will be much-appreciated and much-used by the community."
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.
In February, Council agreed in-principle to purchase the land for $6.44 million, subject to community feedback.
This price for the land is a discount of 50 per cent the current market value of the land, and Council proposed to sell off four smaller, empty parcels of land in Kilsyth and Mooroolbark to fund the purchase of 150 Cambridge Road.
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
Council asked community members to provide feedback on the proposal, resulting in more than 6000 people visiting the webpage and 225 leaving feedback. 94 per cent of people leaving feedback were supportive of Council's decision to purchase the land. About 85 per cent of participants were supportive of the funding method for the purchase (in selling the small parcels of land).
