Clean hurdle for Fishermans Bend

CONTAMINATION of the Fishermans Bend site is looming as a major worry for the commercial building sector, after the Victorian Government revealed its “final vision” for a revamped suburb.

An artist’s impression of the Fishermans Bend redevelopment area.

CONTAMINATION of the Fishermans Bend site is looming as a major worry for the commercial building sector, after the Victorian Government revealed its “final vision” for a revamped suburb on the CBD’s southwest fringe.

Property Council of Australia executive director Sally Capp, who was appointed last month to lead the Victorian chapter of the PCA, said the strategy released this week did not discuss how the heavily ­industrialised site would be ­decontaminated.

Given decontamination programs can run into years before construction is allowed, the PCA is concerned the lack of a strategy for the clean-up would impede local developers from planning to participate in the large project.

Fishermans Bend is on the Yarra River, near Port Melbourne and opposite Coode Island, where in 1991 a massive explosion and fire at a chemical storage tank facility ­generated toxic plumes of smoke. It has been described as Melbourne’s worst industrial disaster.

There were about 1000 different private owners of land at Fishermans Bend, PCA said.

Ms Capp told Commercial Property the government could not take a piecemeal ­approach to the chemical clean-up before building began because contamination extended across the whole site through underground water tables.

“You can’t just say, ‘right, we’ve decontaminated this corner so you can start building here’, because the nature of the geology in the area is that toxic substances will migrate back into the cleaned-up area,” she said.

Property Council of Australia executive director Sally Capp.

This has been observed with Coode Island’s silt soil widely found around Fishermans Bend.

“We are absolutely in favour of the redevelopment, but as it stands, the absence of key detail is a deterrent for our sector to implement this urban renewal project.”

The Fishermans Bend ­Vision 2050 covers 485ha which are being planned as the “city’s blueprint for growth and sustainability”.

About 80,000 residents are expected to be living in the area within 35 years.

Ms Capp urged governments, municipalities and the corporate sector to team up and provide the leadership and direction the project was crying out for.

Ms Capp said Planning Minister Richard Wynne’s ­latest vision paper for the proposed renewal lacked critical detail.

She said there was uncertainty over the infrastructure delivery timetable and whether Mr Wynne would impose stringent C270 density rules for commercial buildings and dwellings, “which make projects unviable for developers”.

“Plus, what are the private and public funding mechanisms for delivering community infrastructure such as public transport, social services and open space?” Ms Capp asked.

Five precincts are proposed: Montague, Lorimer, Sandridge, Wirraway and the employment zone, which is already established on the ­riverfront.

The plan aims to encourage at least 80 per cent of commuting into and out of the project by public transport, cycling and walking, while every new household would be within 200m of open space.