Many of you read my public battle with Wyndham City Council's Deputy Mayor Josh Gilligan and my assessment of his behaviour in chambers. I also said I'd explain the full background to the matter, so here it is in lengthy article form (with receipts).
I've also prepared a quick TLDR timeline for those who don't want to read the whole thing:
1️⃣Intrapac acquired the 42.95ha site in Truganina in late 2016, which would become Ellarook, with 3.5ha designated for a potential government primary school in the PSP 2️⃣Discussions were regualarly held with the Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA) from 2017 to facilitate the acquisition of the site 3️⃣A decision by ID Land in 2020 to apply to subdivide their 9.6ha private school site at Elements into residential lots caused significant public and political angst 4️⃣In 2021 the State Government unexpectectly acquired the whole Elements site for a public secondary campus, plus a public primary school and early learning centre, leaving our site in limbo 5️⃣in Late 2021 the Department of Education confirmed it would no longer require the Ellarook primary school site due to the above acquisition 6️⃣Intrapac explored alternative uses for the site in collaboration with Wyndham City Council in early 2022 7️⃣With no alternatives found, Intrapac applied to subdivide the land into 79 lots. Council did not like this and refused the application 8️⃣We went to VCAT and lost, not due to the school being needed (which was resolved in an earlier VCAT order), but because of a jurisdictional question about the PSP wording preventing a permit for another use being issued 9️⃣We applied to have this decision reviewed, and there is an upcoming Supreme Court hearing to consider whether VCAT erred in its interpretation 1️⃣0️⃣In the meantime, the Department of Planning is trying to progress a PSP Amendment to resolve the technicality and unlock the land for residential use
Obviously there is a lot of detail to the story which I can't fit here – so read the full article!
Intrapac has spent nearly 8 years in total, and nearly 4 since the alternative site was purchased, working with stakeholders in good faith to find a solution. All whilst paying rates and land tax.
Unfortunately we have met with unrequited resistence from Wyndham City Council despite the history and this issue being foisted upon us.
The Victorian Government and Department of Transport and Planning are now doing the right thing and trying to fix the problem before its too late. We can only hope they don't lose their nerve and finish the job to avoid further unnecessary and costly legal battles for all parties.
🤔What do you think? Are we the problem?