Welcome
Project Update - September 2023
Summary
The City of Greater Geelong would like to thank the community for providing its feedback in the recent community engagement regarding social housing on City-owned land. The engagement ran for 6 weeks and closed on 6th April 2022 with over 700 submissions from residents. The community engagement was conducted in accordance with the City’s community engagement policy and consistent with the City’s obligation under section 114(2)(b) of the Local Government Act 2020.
The engagement asked the community about its views on the proposal to make three parcels of City-owned land available for social housing development. The three sites included were:
- 116-120 Purnell Road, Corio
- 5a Dean Street, Belmont
- 2-14 Rollins Road, Bell Post Hill (excluding 8 Rollins Road)
The findings from the community engagement can be viewed here in the Engagement Summary Report (PDF).
These findings will help inform Council in making future decisions around the potential transfer of the identified parcels of land for Social Housing.
A decision on the use of these parcels of land will be made
by the Council at a future date. Until that time, the use of all three parcels
of land for the development of social housing remains a proposal only.
In general, community views on the proposal varied depending on the sites. While there was support for the proposal from some community members, many residents expressed concerns about a lack of detail about what the potential social developments might include and how they might impact the local area. In regard to the Belmont and Bell Post Hill sites, there were also community views that the land should be allocated for community use and open space, rather than residential development.
The engagement period has now closed. Thank you to everyone who contributed their views on the proposed sites identified for potential future social housing.
For all three sites, the City is proposing to partner with a community housing provider, which the City intends to be a Registered Housing Association/Provider under the Housing Act 1983 (Vic). The City is currently seeking expressions of interest from the community housing sector in relation to the City’s proposal for the development of the three sites. The City intends for the selected community housing provider to be responsible for building the houses, selecting the tenants and managing the properties in the long term.
The City intends to work together with the selected community housing provider and the local community on the potential social housing developments. The City intends for the selected community housing provider to provide the City and the community with greater detail about the houses that might be delivered and other potential uses of the sites. This will enable the City and the community to make an informed decision.
Between now and 2023 we will focus on selecting the right community housing partner. We will then come back to the community in 2023 to undertake a collaborative design process with the community and our partner community housing provider.
In regard to each of the three proposed sites, the City has developed factsheets that include details about the sites as well as Frequently Asked Questions. These can be viewed by clicking on the links below.
Information for each location
For information on each site including frequently asked questions, click below.
Location of City Land for Social and Affordable Housing
The map below shows the three parcels of surplus land proposed for social housing.
Social housing gallery
The images in this gallery are examples of existing social housing in Victoria. They are shown to give you an indication of what the social housing on these sites could look like but are no guarantee of the final design or density limits.
