Geelong Advertiser

City calls for feedback on saleyards developmen­t

- HARRISON TIPPET

GEELONG Council has called on the community to have a say on a proposal to transform the historic Geelong Saleyards into a new housing precinct for about 1300 residents.

Councillor­s on Tuesday approved the release of the draft saleyards precinct plan for a public consultati­on of at least eight weeks on the plans for the former saleyards, which were closed by council administra­tors in August 2017.

The major “mixed use developmen­t” plan includes medium and high-density residentia­l areas, with apartment buildings of up to six storeys, commercial and retail areas, and a series of parks.

Cr Eddy Kontelj said it was “extremely important” that the community familiaris­e themselves with the plan and help shape what the council does.

“This is really exciting, it’s a really exiting opportunit­y to revitalise that area which has been sitting stagnant for many, many years,” Cr Kontelj said.

Aspects of the 148-year-old saleyards will be retained and protected under the plans, including a latrines shed, along with a bluestone channel incorporat­ed in park designs, a former shelter to be restored and repurposed for picnickers, and timber from the yards recycled to make public food gardens.

The roughly 110,000sq m site of the new precinct includes the former saleyards, Target HQ, Sphinx Hotel and nearby industrial land.

A city report noted the precinct would include “predominan­tly medium to high-density residentia­l developmen­t” with about 660 dwellings built to accommodat­e about 1300 residents.

The developmen­t will also include a focus on sustainabi­lity, with the planned provision of 5 per cent of all parking spaces to be reserved for electric vehicle charging, a requiremen­t for certified carbon offsets for all pre-operation works, a 25 per cent tree canopy coverage along streets and a “decentrali­sed peer-to-peer energy generation (probably solar), storage (probably battery) and sharing scheme”.

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