Manningham Council considers future business hub in Templestowe for those forced to move for North East Link
It’s got a lot of paddocks and a bus driver rest area — but a huge bushland site in Templestowe could become the new home for businesses forced to make way for North East Link.
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Paddocks and a bus driver rest area in Templestowe could be transformed into a hub for businesses displaced by North East Link.
Manningham Council has identified a 4.5ha site at 2-14 Websters Rd for a future employment precinct.
The council wrote to Planning Minister Richard Wynne last month to seek his support for the site, which would become home for affected businesses in the Bulleen Industrial Precinct.
In the letter, the council stated 96 of the precinct’s 110 businesses would be forced to make way for the $16 billion road project, which it felt would have “a significant impact on the economic and wellbeing of our community”.
Mayor Paul McLeish said the council and the North East Link Authority had explored several potential sites and determined Websters Rd was the only suitable location in Manningham to relocate the precinct’s businesses.
He said the authority was funding a feasibility study to investigate how many businesses could fit at Websters Rd, which would be ready by March.
“The outcome of the feasibility study will indicate if the site has the potential to accommodate
displaced businesses and the best method in which to progress the planning and approvals
process,” Cr McLeish said.
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“Several businesses have expressed an interest in moving to Websters Rd if the site is deemed suitable.”
But Wonder Pies owner Ray Capaldi said he wouldn’t be moving to the proposed precinct as he understood he would need pay more in rent.
Mr Capaldi said he couldn’t plan for his future until he knew how much compensation he would get for leaving his Kim Close factory.
“I’m not going to move from this factory until I know (how much) money is in the bank,” he said.
Higgins Panel Beating owner John Higgins said the proposed site was 7km away from his Kim Close workshop.
He said he was waiting for more information about the site, but would move there if there was no alternative.
“The thing with it is, we’ve got something quite unique here, and it’s going to be very hard to match,” Mr Higgins said.
Mr Wynne’s spokeswoman Nicole Bland said the minister was yet to receive a formal application and the department would judge it on its merits if and when it received one.
North East Link Authority chief executive Duncan Elliott said it was working closely with the council to determine the site’s suitability. He did not say how much the authority had spent on the feasibility study.