The state government has stepped in to break an impasse that has left a riverside subdivision at Sunshine North without basic infrastructure, including roads and electricity, for almost a century.
The Victorian Planning Authority (VPA) has given Brimbank council $75,000 to employ a consultant to create a masterplan for the Solomon Heights subdivision, which was carved up in the 1920s into 420 lots, then left undeveloped.
Part of Melbourne’s first planning blueprint, the land was rezoned from residential to industrial in the 1950s. But apart from being named in 1978 after an early Victorian settler, who had land nearby in the 1840s, development of the subdivision stalled.
When it was originally carved up, responsibility for providing infrastructure and services was the responsibility of new landowners.
A paper published on the 32-hectare land lot last year likened it to a “zombie subdivision” because ownership of thoroughfares was never transferred to the local council, and gravel “roads” fell into disrepair.
Compounding these issues was a growing awareness of the ecological significance of the site. The lack of development meant rare native vegetation thrived and two threatened species – the spiny rice flower and the striped legless lizard – were protected under national conservation laws in 1999.
VPA chief executive Peter Seamer said it was time the valuable land, just 10 kilometres from the city, be put to good use.
“The land has sat under-utilised for almost 100 years. Someone has to do something to find their way through this,” he said.
Mr Seamer said the VPA grant, announced last week, has subsidised a consultant to begin work on a masterplan that he hopes will be completed by mid-year.
“We’re trying to put some energy and drive into this,” he said.
However, one Solomon Heights’ landowner isn’t so optimistic. Joe Zahara said he’s lost hope the 420 lots, held by 130 landowners, will be developed in his lifetime.
“When I bought the land, I had just opened my business … they’ve been telling me for 30 years ‘something will be done before Christmas’,” he said.
