Darebin proposes acceleration of masterplan for Alphington site

Published on 20 May 2024

Darebin has proposed accelerating master planning work for 2 Wingrove St, Alphington by a year in recognition of high community interest including from several community organisations keen to partner with Council. 

Darebin amended its draft budget in April 2024 to accelerate master planning to kick off in 2024-25. Council has included $40,000 in its draft 2024-25 Budget to fund:

• completing a preliminary feasibility study about what’s possible, and any constraints, on the site, and
• running a first stage Expressions of Interest process to identify potential partner organisations for the site.

The draft budget is currently open for community consultation and people can have their say at yoursay.darebin.vic.gov.au/budget2024-25

The Masterplan will set out the long-term plan for the site, ensuring there is good investment in the site, and it can fulfil its potential as a community asset. 

The site is currently home to several tenant organisations with multi-year agreements and Council is also currently seeking interest from organisations for use of a building on the site for up to 4 years. 

The Master Planning process will not affect any of these current arrangements – rather, it will provide a clear plan for how other parts of the site might be used during this time and a clear plan for the whole site for the long term.  

Darebin Mayor, Cr Susanne Newton said the Alphington site has great potential. 

“We want the best for the community from this site, and that is why we will work with community and community organisations to plan for its future. 

“There are many exciting opportunities for the site to deliver Council’s vision and the aspirations of the community. There are also some real challenges that we have to be realistic about and careful to understand. A first key step is a feasibility study to make sure we understand issues and challenges related to the site’s history as a quarry and a landfill, and related to the buildings on the site, many of which are at end of life and are not currently fit for use. We’ll share this feasibility study with community and potential partners transparently so that everyone has full information about what’s possible and any issues that will need to be addressed in the masterplan.   

“We look forward to working with the community and potential partners on this significant project, and to seeing what we can achieve together,” Mayor Newton said.

Information gathered through the feasibility study is important for understanding what’s possible on the site and will be used to undertake meaningful community consultation in the 2025-26 financial year.

There are risks and issues at the site that Council needs to carefully consider as part of feasibility study, including its former use as a landfill and buildings on the property that are at end of life. Undertaking the feasibility study and Masterplan will take some time, but they are essential to enable council to open the site for new and innovative community uses.

This site is protected for public use under the Public Use Zone (code PUZ6 – Council Purposes) and any future uses of the site will need to align with this planning requirement. This zoning limits the types of uses that can be established.