HOBSONS Bay Council has voted to subdivide and sell part of a Brooklyn property despite residents lobbying for it to be kept for open space.
But the council denied reports it was reneging on a promise to retain all of the land at 31 Cypress Avenue.
As reported by the Weekly, former councillor Michael Raffoul last month wrote to the acting CEO, stating a four-metre laneway “will not meet the needs of the community nor the expectation of a wide open green connection that would at last link the two communities”.
Last week’s council meeting heard that Mr Raffoul had been one of the councillors who voted unanimously to follow an officer’s recommendation to subdivide the property.
Cr Tony Briffa said that when the former council last year voted for the subdivision, the decision was “always subject to community consultation”.
“Some councillors at the time, including Michael Raffoul and myself, were not in support of the sale, but we were happy to keep our minds open to the recommendation and hear what the community thought,” he said. Cr Sandra Wilson said she had listened to a recording of the former council’s decision and was certain that no promise was being dishonoured.
It is the second property the council has bought in Cypress Avenue to provide a community link to the Federation Trail bike and pedestrian path.
Brooklyn Residents Action Group (BRAG) spokesman Bert Boere said the first purchase might have been hasty due to a shortage of properties on the market at the time.
“It was in a position fairly close to Geelong Road that we wouldn’t have preferred.
“Subsequently, the council voted to subdivide for a four-metre pathway and sell the remaining land to recoup costs.”
BRAG then lobbied for a house to be bought near the centre of Cypress Avenue and Brooklyn Community Hall, resulting in the council buying No. 31. “This was fenced off after removal of the house, without consultation and before council had voted to subdivide this property.
“That being said, I am still glad the community is getting the links across Federation Trail between the two halves of Brooklyn.”
—Goya Dmytryshchak
