No Retirement Village for Coldstream!

For some time I have been trying to find out about the land within the Coldstream UGB marked MUZ coloured red on the above.

Rumors are around that the owners are in the process of building a retirement village but sadly this is not true in the immediate future.

Cr McRae sent my initial enquiry to Alison Wastie.  Here is her response.

Hi Mario,

My name is Ali Wastie.  I am the Economic and Community Development Manager for Yarra Ranges Council. Cr McRae has referred me an email you wrote inquiring about a parcel of land near the Post Office in Coldstream.

In recent years Council officers have worked to engage the owners regarding this block of land, including holding an investment event in Coldstream.  We will continue to engage with the owner regarding the land and the possible opportunities it presents to the Coldstream community. If you would like further information on this parcel of land or any other land development opportunities that Council is currently pursuing please contact Simon O’Callaghan.

I followed up with Simon O'Callaghan and his response is : 

 

Mario

We have made several approaches to the owners of this site around identified opportunities for development. Currently the owners have several other land holdings across Melbourne’s East that they have indicated to us are their priority in the short-medium term. There has been no indication to suggest that they are motivated one way or another by Coldstream’s population, simply that they are focussing on their other sites.

The role that the Economic Development Unit adopts is to identify opportunities and/or investors and to then broker this information with the aim of facilitating potential development. The rest is up to the market. We may have the best proposal going around but if a land owner is not open to working with us we look to identify another site.

 Comment: 

As I suspected, this land will sit idle for a long time yet.  

The owners of the land are well within their rights to do so.  

It's just a crying shame that the land across Killara Rd from this site is not in the UBG as the farmers there have indicated they are willing to develop their land.

Shame, Shame, Shame.