SNAIL MAIL SALE

CITY HALL FINALLY SET TO VOTE ON OLD POST OFFICE

After 14 long months, council looks ready to put landmark site on the market

ONE of Geelong’s most historic buildings is finally poised to hit the property market after a tortuous 14-month process.

The City of Greater Geelong will vote tomorrow night on a plan to sell the city’s former post office on the corner of Ryrie and Gheringhap streets.

Jennifer Bantow, from the Geelong and Region Branch National Trust, has urged councillors to resist council officers’ recommendation to sell the landmark property.

She said the Trust made a 40-page submission against the sale, with letters of support from five organisations in Geelong.

“We believe that the possibility of the property being sold will make it very difficult to be consistent with the Conservation Management Plan (CMP).” she said. “It’s a prominent landmark and makes a beautiful vista along Ryrie St with the T & G building.

“If it was to be gutted for some high rise tower, it would be a very bad and irreversible mistake.”

The National Trust is also upset that tomorrow night’s council meeting will be held at Indented Head because it believes such an important topic should have been debated in Geelong.

“There’s such great community interest in this, having that on the agenda for a meeting at Indented Head is difficult for a lot of people who may have an interest in attending,” Ms Bantow said.

Mayor Bruce Harwood said the possible post office sale had been a long and detailed process. “The community has been waiting a long time for us to make a decision, we’ve taken our time and done extensive consultation with the community,” he said. “We’re looking at particular assets that can be brought back to life, so to speak, but council’s not in a position at this point of time to do the building justice.

“We have a commitment to our civic accommodation build, so we have to take all these things into account.

“It’s time to have the discussion and have the vote.”

The decision to sell the grand old post office has been contemplated by the council for the past 14 months.

At a meeting in May 2018, council gave its intention to sell the former Geelong post office and to refer its CMP to Heritage Victoria and the National Trust for comment.

However, in September 2018, it resolved to commission another CMP and that the proposed sale of the property be considered by the council when the new CMP became available.

Council received the new CMP in April 2019, and tasked officers to seek feedback on the future ownership or potential use of the building.

Seventeen submissions were received through the City’s Have Your Say website.

While the submissions identified possible future uses for the building, the council said they did not align with its priorities and would require funding and ongoing subsidisation by council.

The council is committed to generating significant funding from the sale of surplus properties for its new council headquarters. Officers recommended the sale of the building on the condition that the new CMP is adhered to and uses and development of the building are complimentary to the overall precinct.