By JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
Geelong’s council has been set a deadline to revitalise the city centre.
Federal Member for Corangamite, Sarah Henderson said council had six to 12 months.
“I think council has a very limited time to make its mark in this respect,” Ms Henderson said.
“If it can’t do so in the next six to 12 months, I think we need to find another way to continue the transformation of our city.
“Clearly the transformation has not happened quickly enough.
“Let’s clean up the buildings, develop the student housing and high-density living we’ve been talking about for more than 20 years.
“There is some sense of despair when we do look at what has happened to our city … the rundown facades and empty shops.”
Ms Henderson said making the city more “liveable” was one of the region’s biggest challenges.
“We have to create a city where people want to live. Businesses that want to move here and set up operations are looking for their employees and their families to live in a wonderful, liveable city.”
Cr Michelle Heagney, who holds a central Geelong porfolio, said council’s pending budget would allocate $8 million to the Vision II revitalisation project.
“Until you have got budget allocated you can’t do much but with this budget allocation we are going to hit the ground running on 1 July,” she said.
Cr Heagney blamed previous councils for the lack of action.
“The previous council didn’t embrace it. The previous mayor didn’t drive it and council didn’t drive it.”
Mayor Darryn Lyons this week announced the start of work on a 193-apartment development on a former St Mary’s Primary School site at the corner of Myers and Bellarine Sts.
The $65 million development includes a mix of private and social housing and community facilities.
Cr Lyons said the redevelopment would employ up to 100 construction workers and create 50 full-time ongoing jobs.
“This residential redevelopment will provide a major boost for the revitalisation of central Geelong,” he said.
“Our plan is to more than double the number of people living in our city’s centre by 2028, to go from 4200 people to 10,000.”
