DEVELOPERS looking to bid for a slice of 10 hectares of Wodonga’s former railway land have been given the green light by Places Victoria, the organisation charged with the responsibility of revitalising the city centre.
The day after a Sydney developer said he was walking away from a $110 million proposal for the site, Places Victoria chief executive officer Sam Sangster and Wodonga mayor Mark Byatt announced the Victorian government’s nod on Thursday night to a formal planning regime for the land.
Mr Sangster said he hoped Places Victoria would now begin advertising for expressions of interest for the land within weeks.
“We now have a green-for-go for development on this site,” Mr Sangster said.
“Part of our remit is to make sure we bring the right developers from all around the country.
“Our expertise in the developments we do in other parts of Victoria is actually bringing international development and development finance into all of these locations, and we’re putting Wodonga on the map.
“Wodonga is now added to our portfolio of investment attractions.”
Mr Sangster was critical of a “proposal” proffered to Places Victoria and Wodonga Council over the past eight months by the Sydney developer, through his representative Bill Pickering, the managing director of marketing firm Hugo Halliday.
“We deal with all comers and it’s pretty clear they put a single A4 piece of paper on the desk and called that a proposal,” Mr Sangster said.
“That’s not my idea of a development proposal.
“It was a sketch. There is no proposal.
“Given we’ve only just today been announcing the green light for development, it’s a bit unclear about how there was any proposal we’ve been considering.”
Mr Sangster said Places Victoria would not be offering the 10-hectare site as a whole; instead it would be made available in “parcels that are readily developable by a whole range of developers”.
“We&rs quo;re very concerned to deliver the outcomes that have been asked for by community and that multiplicity of uses, the various things on site, we have to consider the best way to achieve that,” he said.
“If you limit it to a single parcel then you very much restrict the range of people who can come and bring economic vitality to Wodonga and we don’t want to do that.
“There are very few developers in this country who could do this as a single parcel.”
Cr Byatt described the new comprehensive development zone, or CDZ, approved by Planning Minister Matthew Guy as a platform from which the council and Places Victoria could work together.
“I think we are fortunate that the state government has seen fit to put Places Victoria in the space here in Wodonga, bringing a large amount of experience and expertise to the table and that’s what this precinct needs,” he said.
“I think this sets us on the journey for some really solid investment opportunities and development opportunities in the CBD.”
Editorial — page 32
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