Brimbank council has compulsorily acquired a St Albans property it plans to turn into a car park – just two days before it was expected to fetch more than $1.5 million at auction.
Ray White St Albans director Shaun Marijanovic said the council had acted “immorally” by waiting to notify the property owners of 21 McIvor Road and his real estate agency about 7pm last Thursday that the property would be compulsorily acquired, forcing the auction to be called off at the 11th hour.
The 920-square-metre property was due to be sold at auction on Saturday after a 74-day advertising campaign.
Mr Marijanovic said the council’s lawyers sent the agency a letter late on Thursday night notifying them the land had been gazetted and the owners would be compensated in accordance with the law.
“I’m angry for the owners because they’re not going to get the sort of price they would have at auction,” he said. “This is a very cruel blow … it’s immoral.”
He said Ray White had received 12 to 14 offers of between $1.1 million and $1.5 million that had been declined by the vendors, who wanted to sell at auction.
On Friday, the council told
Star Weekly it “acquired the land” to provide extra parking at the nearby shopping strip. Brimbank placed a public acquisition overlay (PAO) on the land in 1989 due to its proximity to the St Albans town centre. Mayor John Hedditch said the PAO gave the council legal authority to secure properties for public purposes. He said the owners of the land would be paid compensation “as a result of council’s acquisition of land, in accordance with the relevant legislation.
Mr Marijanovic said the council was informed when the property was listed for sale on November 30 last year.
The letter sent to Ray White from Maddock’s Lawyers on behalf of the council said the property has been compulsorily acquired by the council on February 9, and that “ownership now vests in council”. The letter said the property must be withdrawn from the market.
