Member for Niddrie Ben Carroll has given the Brimbank council an ultimatum – buy the former Calder Rise Primary School site or lose the opportunity forever.
Mr Carroll said the council had been given ample opportunity to buy the land and the time for meaningful action was now.
“This is an example of sloppy handling by the Brimbank council,” he said.
“In good faith I’ve stopped the sale of the site and given the council the opportunity to buy the land at a discounted rate.
“If something isn’t done at their meeting, then the Victorian School Building Authority will be putting in a call and the site will be going up for sale.
“I know for a fact there’s a lot of outside interest in the land, but we wanted to give Brimbank council the first opportunity to purchase it.”
The results of a due diligence report to assess whether the council should buy the site were to be discussed during February’s meeting, but were pushed back.
Mr Carroll said the council would be neglecting the people of Keilor if it didn’t buy the land.
“There’s a demand for facilities with female sport growing, but the council seem to be positioning themselves to make this an election issue,” he said.
“I believe the council can afford to buy this land, they’ve just built flash new offices and purchased sites in Sunshine.
“It’s unfair to dangle a carrot in front of the community if you’re not serious about it and I don’t believe they’ve been serious.”
Brimbank council acting director city development Leanne Deans said the council will discuss the issue at an upcoming meeting, but didn’t specify when.
She said the council in July initiated a due diligence report into buying property which would: “be presented to council for consideration at a future meeting”.
