Council is about to sell just under 100 square metres of its land to the MRC for the paltry figure of $140,000. Stuck in the middle of the current car park it is admittedly useless to Council but extremely important to the MRC. This is where the 4 storey buildings are to go.
This leads us on to several important questions:
- Has council ever received ‘rent’ from the MRC for this land?
- Why wasn’t this discovered when the C60 was being planned?
- This is the second time that odd little pieces of land are changing hands. What does this say about the planning department’s fingers on the pulse and their vigilance?
- Why is Council prepared to sell this 100 sq metres for a song? Most real estate experts value the price of land in this area as between $2,000 – $2,500 per square metre if not more. That would make it at least double what council is prepared to sell for. Why and how has this bargain basement figure been determined?
Glen Eira Debates 
September 4, 2012 at 11:25 AM
Yep agree. If you or I owned the land and this piece of land was required by the MRC otherwise it would cost them millions then you would be asking for a lot more.
September 4, 2012 at 11:26 AM
It’s the mrc and Newton and the gang will kiss arse whenever asked. Surprised that they’re even asking 140. Betyas that council has never got a penny for this land as rent either.
September 4, 2012 at 11:33 AM
The mrc want it then make them pay through the nose. It’s about time that council got some real value for residents and stopped treating the mrc like some sacred cow that was untouchable.
A great start would be to fine them for turning the public park into a dumping ground and putting up fences everywhere – none of which were on the original plan. Residents are fined for dumping rubbish so why aren’t the mrc? They get away with blue murder and all the gang does is say nothing. Newton must have handed out lip zippers.
September 4, 2012 at 2:03 PM
Wouldn’t it be nice for one of the four Councillors (Lipshutz, Hyams, Esakoff and Pilling) who signed the centre of the racecourse agreement to give an update tonight on how things have progressed? Doubt it will happen though because things have not progressed one bit since the contractual agreement was signed off 18 months ago. We should be charging liquidated damages against the MRC but instead we are giving away more community assets for next to nothing. Great Council this one.
September 4, 2012 at 3:20 PM
One balls up over liquidated damages is enough I’d say. Can you imagine the furore if the MRC suddenly acted like Hansen and Yuncken and also decided to sue council. Nah, it’s much much easier to give them everything they want and to keep silent. Let them put up as many non permit fences as they like and let them put up as many signs as they want whenever they want and then let them sit on an agreement and do nothing for over 18 months except create a new tip for themselves in our supposed new park. Then let them continue the training and 500 horses for the next 100 years. Thankfully Newton and the toadies will be well and truly dead and buried by then.
September 4, 2012 at 4:52 PM
There seems to be no records of advertising this land as available for salw. Maybe at an auction it would bring more dollars. Anyway why not have a land swap for this and add an area equal to this to the north west corner of one of the buildings, which has a splayed corner, of the development so as to give the some of the 10,000 persons who are to live and work on this 5.5 hectares a chance to take in some sun or chat where they do not feel obligated to but a cofee or drink. If this council has the money it will only be used to concrete or pour bitumen on another park.
September 4, 2012 at 11:14 PM
Exactly where is this land – which car park?