State announces 11-storey building for Geelong amid more calls to disband planning authority

An 11-storey building worth $80 million is set to tower over neighbouring properties in Geelong’s Brougham Street.
The office building, between Mercer and Gheringhap streets, would accommodate 850 workers, Planning Minister Richard Wynne said.
The office is the first project Mr Wynne has announced since the State Government made him responsible for major building projects in central Geelong almost a year ago.
The announcement follows recent criticism of the government’s Geelong Authority, which the government set up to advise Mr Wynne on which projects to approve.
Liberal MPs have accused the authority of failing to deliver any projects since its inception.
The government said the Geelong Authority “supported” the approval of the new Brougham Street building, along with various other government agencies.
“The Office of the Victorian Government Architect reviewed the Brougham Street proposal, indicating it would set an encouraging precedent for renewal in central Geelong through its use of the existing wool store,” the government said.
“The approval was supported by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, the City of Greater Geelong, the Geelong Authority and Places Victoria.”
The government announced the new building amid new calls to disband the Geelong Authority.
The Geelong Indy reports today that Federal Corangamite MP Sarah Henderson has labelled the authority “powerless”, while state counterpart Simon Ramsay has suggested it’s useless.
Mr Ramsay has asked Mr Wynne about the authority’s lack of action on Geelong’s proposed convention and exhibition centre, widely considered a top priority for the city.
“I do not see any use now for the Geelong planning authority and I ask the minister to investigate whether it serves any useful purpose at all,” he said.
“This action is necessary because we now have administrators administering the city and also administering a number of the major projects that have been proposed by different stakeholder groups, not to mention we have lost the chair of that authority and many of the major projects that were being proposed by the planning authority, like Vision 2, are actually being done by the administrators.”