Council still hasn’t delivered a decision
CITY Hall has again delayed a decision on the sale of the historic former Geelong post office.
Councillors on Tuesday night voted to defer a motion to sell the building to help raise funds for its new $91 million high-rise headquarters.
It is expected the decision will now be made on the potential sale of the building — on the corner of Ryrie and Gheringhap streets — at the July 23 council meeting.
Bellarine Ward councillor Jim Mason put forward the motion to defer the decision at the Tuesday night meeting in Indented Head.
Cr Mason said councillors chose to defer to allow stakeholders and major interest groups to be present when the decision was made at a meeting in Geelong.
“We thought it would be much nicer if we could hold the meeting in Geelong where it would be more accessible for a lot of the stakeholders, and that’s why we’ve deferred it,” Cr Mason said.
The old post office was acquired by the council in 1996 for an interest-free State Government loan of $670,000. It housed council staff and was leased to tenants in the youth services sector but has been left vacant since 2018.
The council has never repaid any of the loan, which the State Government has agreed to redirect to the restoration of Osborne House and the stables in Osborne Park, North Geelong. It has been estimated necessary maintenance works in the building will cost $3.73 million.
The sale of the former post office was first raised with council in February 2018, when it was recommended it be sold on the open market, with no strings attached to its future development other than the restraints of its heritage listing. Councillors then deferred the decision to sell the property after fielding questions from heritage proponents.
In May 2018, councillors voted to give the city’s intention to sell the building and to refer its conservation management plan (CMP) to Heritage Victoria and the National Trust for comment.
But in September it resolved to commission a new CMP before approving any sale. It was received in April, with community feedback sought before Tuesday night’s meeting.
Mayor Bruce Harwood this week said the council had undertaken extensive community consultation around the possible sale.
“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,” Cr Harwood said.
“We have a commitment to our civic accommodation build, so we have to take all these things into account.”
National Trust Geelong and Region branch spokeswoman Jennifer Bantow this week urged councillors not to sell the historic property.
“If it was to be gutted for some high rise tower, it would be a very bad and irreversible mistake,” she said.
Construction of the post office started on Ryrie St in 1899 and was completed in 1911. It is listed on the Geelong Heritage Register and any future development would be required to meet heritage requirements.