Scouts Australia and the newly formed Sydenham Bowls Club, which are vying to occupy land owned by Brimbank council, have not made a strong enough case to keep it in community hands, a council-appointed committee says.
The council voted last week to sell the reserve at 541-547 Melton Highway, Sydenham, after a committee hearing in July gave the green light to offload the land.
Star Weekly revealed at the time that the disability service provider St John of God Accord, which operates next door, was keen to buy the land and expand its services, while Scouts Australia was also looking for a base for its Taylors Lakes group.
However, a number of residents, Sydenham Bowls Club and state and federal politicians were keen to see the land remain in council hands and be developed for community use.
“We’re shocked, but unfortunately the council hasn’t been co-operative,” bowls club president Richard Carthew said.
The committee found “there has not been a sufficient case made for the retention of the site by council for use by any submitters”. The committee added: “Despite there being apparent demand for a Scout facility, it’s not appropriate that the council set aside [the land] for this single purpose. It is arguable that local government should not be the assumed provider of land for a bowls club.”
Committee hearing minutes state that the St John of God Accord had grown “too big”, and people were parking on the reserve and turning it into a “mud pile”.
The Accord expects significant growth in demand for its services with the National Disability Insurance Scheme roll-out.
Committee minutes also reveal the Scouts had tried for 26 years to get a new hall on the site, and it had plans to establish a “special- needs Scout group”.
But the history buffs say the reserve land represents “the heart of Melbourne’s history” and should be used to commemorate the history of the area.
The committee found the council and the community would “benefit from a review of its total open space land holdings”.
