Do something with this 80,000 sq m eyesore: Seacliff Park residents are fed up with state of Cement Hill site

OVERGROWN, graffiti-riddled and littered with abandoned buildings — locals are fed up with this suburban eyesore that spans almost 80,000 square metres.

Residents are unhappy with the dilapidated state of the abandoned Cement Hill industrial site. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

OVERGROWN, graffiti-riddled, and littered with abandoned buildings, the 7.8ha Cement Hill development site is an eyesore attracting trespassers and arsonists, residents say.

Marino Residents Association members want work on a new residential and commercial development to begin as soon as possible on the Seacliff Park site, a former quarry.

Failing that, they are calling for the developer — Gasparin Group — to secure and clean up the area, bordered by Ocean Blvd and Scholefield Rd, which has been vacant for decades.

Marion coastal ward Councillor Tim Gard, also a member of the Marino Residents Association, says Cement Hill has been “a matter of frustration” for locals for years.

Public consultation on the development was set to begin a year ago but has not yet happened.
Cr Gard said the project had stalled during negotiations between Gasparin Developments and neighbouring property owner, Boral, over the relocation of an unnamed haulage road leading to the Boral Linwood quarry, off Clubhouse Rd.

Fed up are Des and Karen DeCean, pictured with Marion councillor Tim Gard. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

In the meantime, he said fences built around Cement Hill had fallen down in places and the area was frequented by trespassers.

“We’ve had three fires in the past five years — the last one was on March 22,” he said of the property, which is within walking distance of his house.

“I called the fire brigade — the place is very combustible.

“People go in there and they smoke and there’s massive graffiti.

“The very least the developers can do is secure the boundary fence along Schofield Rd and Ocean Blvd.”

Cr Gard understood it was not within the council’s powers to order the developer to clean up the site. He will ask his fellow Marion councillors to call on the State Government to act.
Marino Residents Association President, Des DeCean agreed the site had been a “thorn in the side of residents for many years”.

Fellow association member Paul Goodwin, who sells real estate in the area for Harcourt Brock Estates , said the site was also holding back the market.

He said many potential buyers were deciding not to buy in the area, based on the “scruffy” look of Cement Hill.
The proposed development would also address a lack of supermarkets and delis in the area, Mr Goodwin, who also lives in the area, said.

Developer Frank Gasparin said his company was “still in the process of negotiating with Boral to achieve a mutually desirable outcome”.
Mr Gasparin did not respond to questions about the state of the site.
A Boral spokesman said the company had offered land to the Gasparin group to provide open space for the development.
“Together we are working very hard to minimise the cost impact of the access road relocation upon the developer,” the spokesman said.

The MFS confirmed there was a suspicious fire on the site on March 22, which was quickly brought under control.
A Marion Council staff response to questions about the site, published in an agenda for this week’s council meeting, confirmed there are “no bylaws that would be applicable in addressing the community concerns” over the site.