By Luke Voogt
Geelong’s council has failed to make any money from its Lara industrial land in seven years of a local property boom.
City Hall had so far sold $19.2 million of land at Geelong Ring Road Employment Precinct (GREP) but spent the same amount in the process, a report to council revealed this week.
Any developer with similar results would “be out of business by now,” councillor Anthony Aitken told a council meeting this week.
City Hall still owns 77 hectares of the industrial site as the largest land-owner in the precinct.
The Victorian Government gifted most of the 128 hectares of council’s GREP land 25 years ago, with allotments first available for sale in 2011.
The report said council had so far invested $19.2m in GREP infrastructure and development costs, including $2.5m in government grants. Council had so far sold $13.3 million through its chief executive officer and $5.9 million under council resolutions, the report said.
Council voted this week to reinstate authority for its chief executive officer (CEO) to sell and lease land for no less than certified valuations.
The CEO could lease or sell land for lesser values only if council failed to receive any purchase submissions.
“What we’re doing is we’re fast-tracking authority to our officers so we can try and sell the remaining pieces of land that do exist in that area,” Cr Aitken said.
Fast-tracking the land sales for industrial projects could help address a “massive disparity” in unemployment rates throughout Geelong, he said.
Unemployment rose to 18.4 per cent in Corio and Norlane in September 2017, up from 15.9 per cent at the same time in 2016.
“For me that’s at crisis level and I think we should be doing everything to create employment opportunities that we can,” Cr Aitken said.
The GREP is also the subject of a legal battle, with L Bisinella Developments taking council to court over its handling of the precinct.
The company alleged in March that council had acted negligently and its officers illegally in the development of the land.
The company lodged legal documents claiming that council delayed permits to Bisinella while fast-tracking its own.
Council had also levied unfair payments on Bisinella to pay for drainage work on council’s GREP land, the company alleged.
Both parties would attend a directions hearing on 16 February at the Supreme Court, Bisinella’s law firm said.
Bisinella was prepared for a legal battle, said Arnold Bloch Leibler partner John Mengolian.
“Bisinella is certainly preparing on the basis that the matter is proceeding to court.”
The trial would likely begin in March 2019 and take four to six weeks, Mr Mangolian said.
“I expect there would be a court mediation ordered at the directions hearing.”
