Mayday Hills at Beechworth has been long seen as ripe for development.
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It is a large site – 106.5 hectares in total – and comes with a host of heritage buildings that provide much charm.
Add to that the extensive gardens and the possibilities, as the saying goes, are endless.
It was with that in mind that Wooragee's Geoff and Tess Lucas and Beechworth's George and Sue Fendyk made the decision to buy Mayday Hills from La Trobe University in early 2013 for $1.5 million.
The sale process alone gave an early indication that any steps taken to develop Mayday Hills would not be easy.
Criticism flew over how long it took to complete the sale – the property went on the market in 2011 – but as the university’s pro-vice chancellor said at the time, this could not have happened any quicker because of extensive regulatory requirements.
The need to keep jumping these regulatory hurdles though has not been wiped away by the property coming into private hands.
Indeed, the would-be developers have had to work extremely hard to keep their dream alive.
They see the old site as ideal for new and interesting businesses, to run by people attracted by the historic buildings but also willing to invest their own cash to safeguard these for the future.
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This led to the first major issue in what has now become a frustratingly drawn-out process.
Heritage Victoria was prepared to back the sub-division of the property, but provided a key set of 12 conditions were met.
These covered the repair of roof structures and cladding, work to get rid of rising damp and the repair or replacement of damaged and decayed timber in buildings.
The developers also had to repair windows, damaged stone and brickwork, identify and fix current and potential structural failures and repaint buildings.
Mr Fendyk felt he had not choice but to announce the whole project was indefinitely halted, as they were relying on such hefty investments being made by those wanting to buy into the project.
But thanks to what Mr Fendyk says has been the valuable assistance of planning experts at Indigo Council, the project is well and truly back on track.
We can only hope the current planning process will lead to the bustling village first envisioned by the developers, something that will benefit the whole Beechworth area.