The site of Brimbank council’s Sunshine offices is expected to be turned into a housing development.
With Sunshine-based council staff to be relocated to the new Brimbank Community and Civic Centre – a move expected to take place in the third quarter of 2016 – the council last Tuesday began the sale process, money from which is expected to be a funding source for the municipality.
The land is owned by both VicTrack (6294 square metres) and the council (10,070 square metres), so profits will be shared.
Brimbank administrators chairman John Watson said the council intended to rezone the site as general residential. It includes the council offices, a temporary library on McCracken Street and a maternal and child health centre.
“This is an excellent opportunity to provide additional housing in Sunshine close to services and facilities including public transport, the Sunshine Leisure Centre and the future park on the former Sunvale site. And the development would be near the town centre,” Mr Watson said. According to a council report, the most appropriate future use of the site would be for residential purposes in the form of medium- density housing.
“Some ancillary or associated uses, such as community uses or a cafe, may be appropriate as part of a primarily residential development,” the report states. “This is due to the limited impacts that are likely to be caused on the surrounding properties, along with the potential to re-use the heritage-listed building [at the western end of the site] for residential purposes.”
A VicTrack spokeswoman said the organisation had spent two years working on a long-term plan for the site with the council, and it supported the council’s proposal to rezone the land residential.
Residents can make submissions to the council until August 18.
