Action on the redevelopment of Beechworth’s Mayday Hills could be imminent under a plan now being finalised.
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The project stalled a year ago when developers George Fendyk and Geoff Lucas disagreed with conditions imposed by Heritage Victoria.
They said they simply could not afford the “millions and millions” of dollars required to meet these 12 conditions, which covered a range of repair and replacement jobs including fixing structural failures.
But Mr Fendyk said on Wednesday that a senior Indigo Council planner had since played a major role in devising a plan for the site that appeared to appease Heritage Victoria.
“We’re making real progress at the moment,” he said.
“We’ve come up with a plan that everyone seems to like.”
Mr Fendyk said the plan’s incorporation of a body corporate was crucial.
“Without that the whole place would have fallen over,” he said.
“This will cement the future of Mayday forever. The body corporate will be the main driver of making sure it all happens.
“We’ve got to formalise all that we’re talking about, put it in place and make sure everybody understands what we’re trying to do and then get it done.”
The project will now progress as a three-stage subdivision of the 106.5 hectare site
The first stage involving non-heritage work is considered the most straightforward.
“There’s a lot of houses that aren’t heritage-affected and buildings that have already been renovated, so will not require any more works,” Mr Fendyk said.
Mr Fendyk said the second and third stages should start reasonably soon and would involve fixing heritage buildings to prevent further deterioration.
“It’s now going to be a matter where people (who take over the buildings) will be in charge of their own destiny as far as renovations go,” he said.
Mr Fendyk said there was no doubt more people would now express interest in running businesses at Mayday Hills.
