by Alesha Capone
A proposal to replace an employment precinct planned for a Werribee estate with a residential or retirement village has drawn the ire of Wyndham council.
A majority of councillors voted against the idea, which was contained in modified development plan for the Riverwalk estate, at a public meeting held on Tuesday, February 8.
Plans for Riverwalk were originally approved by the council during 2010.
The estate is located between Old Geelong Road and the Princes Freeway and will comprise approximately 2600 dwellings upon completion.
Riverwalk is an initiative of Development Victoria, a development agency of the state government.
At last week’s council meeting, Cr Josh Gilligan said the council should ask Development Victoria to reinstate Riverwalk’s proposed Southern Employment Precinct, rather than replacing it with a residential/retirement village.
“When people enter Werribee, I want them to see jobs, not housing,” he said.
“But that is taken away if Development Victoria does not come to the table and commit to delivering what it essentially promised, back when this was originally approved.”
Cr Gilligan said Development Victoria had admitted that “an error” resulted in the land for the employment precinct being zoned for General Residential use, rather than as Commercial or Industrial.
Cr Mia Shaw said Development Victoria did not want to change this zoning status, putting the council “in a very difficult position”.
As well, the council’s meeting agenda stated: “Development Victoria were not prepared to initiate a rezoning and would have objected to a rezoning if initiated by council”.
Cr Susan McIntyre described Development Victoria’s position as “bizarre”.
She said the council often asked private developers to deliver what they had promised for estates across Wyndham, and that Riverwalk should be no different.
“Why should the state government not be asked to deliver exactly what it should?” she said.
Development Victoria’s property group head, Penny Forrest, said: “We’ve been working closely with Wyndham council officers over the past two years on a revised development plan for Riverwalk at Werribee.”
“We are currently assessing council’s decision regarding the proposed new development plan – however it does not impact the overall project.”
