The state government has vowed to work with residents in shaping development of the former Maribyrnong Defence site, as the Federal government moves ahead with the sale of the badly contaminated land.
The state’s development arm Development Victoria spent years negotiating for the 127-hectare site before being dumped by the federal government in May, in favour of an open tender process.
Federal treasurer Scott Morrison described the site as suitable for 6000 new homes – double the previously flagged estimate of 3000 homes.
“There will be social housing on this site. There will be housing for key workers on this site. There will be housing for private buyers, private renters, first-home buyers – all of that can be realised on an integrated development on a site like this,” Mr Morrison said.
Decontamination of the site is predicted to cost up to $500 million, fuelling concerns the high clean-up cost will drive up the site’s density without adequate infrastructure to meet the growth.
A $2.5-billion vision for the land has already been revealed by Chinese developer Zhongren, but the successful tenderer is yet to be announced.
Visiting the site on Thursday, Premier Daniel Andrews said whoever wins the tender will need to submit a detailed planning application that conforms to planning rules.
“While the federal government just wants to make a profit, we want to see new neighbourhoods – close to the city – and with new services to match,” he said.
“We will ensure people’s voices are heard when it comes to preparing plans for the Maribyrnong site.”
Mr Andrews said the Victorian Planning Authority will prepare a detailed planning scheme for the site and the EPA will be involved in the decontamination process.
Heritage Victoria is working with Maribyrnong council to ensure the preservation of heritage buildings of state significance.
Maribyrnong MP Marsha Thomson said there is concern the federal government will seek to maximise profit at the expense of existing and future residents.
“The concern is that this decision will lead to an overdevelopment of the site; we still have grave concerns about how this progresses.”
Opposition leader and Maribyrnong MP Bill Shorten said the process is “a complete and utter shambles” with “zero transparency”.
“All they want to do is make a quick buck and it’s the Maribyrnong community which will suffer,” he said.
