By PAUL MILLAR
IT TOOK one year and 45 days to erect the 437 metre Empire State Building in 1931 but things move slower in Geelong where plans to build a marina development at Rippleside have been shuffled around for 15 years.
The Rippleside Maritime Village was regarded as a chance to revamp an ageing shipyard into a trendy development with bayside cafes, a marina, and waterfront homes that looked across the bay.
The dust has been shaken off the plans several times over the years, as objections, planning revisions and permit extensions were reviewed by council and the developer.
Developer Jim Ramsay, whose company Trendcorp owns the 2.8 hectare parcel of reclaimed land, said the project had stalled and there was no hurry to move it along.
“Nothing is really happening at this point in time,” Mr Ramsay said.
“The market is slowing in land sales, we have people calling us all the time but we are not really worried about it.
“We think when the market changes a bit we will have another look at it again, but there is such a lot of land on the market at the moment,” he said.
An application on behalf of Trendcorp was made to council in December 2012 for an extension to the date by which the development must be commenced.
This application requested a new commencement date of 28 February 2014.
There is still no sign of any work at the site, with advertising signs promoting the flashy development still flapping around in the wind at the once busy shipyard.
“There is no rush on it, council would like something to happen, but there is no pressure on us from council,” Mr Ramsay said.
