City calls for feedback on saleyards development
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”.