Mirvac wants rates refund from Manningham Council after selling $160m of property in Doncaster

A DEVELOPER wants a rates refund for a 800-home estate in Melbourne’s east despite selling $160m worth of homes at the site in one weekend.

Developer wants refund on money-spinner

THE developer of a massive 800 home neighbourhood in Doncaster is aiming to claw back thousands of dollars it has paid to Manningham Council in rates, despite the company boasting a $160 million profit from its first round of sales.

RELATED: $160m in property sales at former golf club in Doncaster within two days

The Tullamore development is set to become a residential neighbourhood set across the former 47 hectare Eastern Golf Club in Doncaster.

An independent valuation of the land determined the developer, major real estate group Mirvac, owed $1.9 million in back rates to Manningham Council.

HAVE YOUR SAY: Should Mirvac get its money back? Tell us below

But despite paying the amount in full, the developer has told Manningham Council it intends to challenge the $1.9 million figure.

“The full revenue associated with the former Eastern Golf Course is not guaranteed, despite being paid in full, as the owner’s lawyers have shown intention to object to the valuation,” a council financial report states.

Mirvac is also engaged in a long-running dispute to get out of shifting powerlines underground at it’s Waverley Park development, despite promising to do the work when it sold the estate.

RELATED: Waverley Park residents still waiting for underground powerlines move

Prior to the independent valuation, the council budgeted for $1.2 million in revenue from the back rates.

Under the Cultural and Recreational Land Act, 10 years worth of back rates are payable to council if land ceases to be zoned as recreational land.

Council chief executive Joe Carbone said the council would stand behind its independent valuation process.

“Council will contest that the valuation has been prepared independently and in accordance with the Cultural and Recreational Land Act and the date of change of use from recreational land,” he said.

Mirvac declined to comment on its challenging of rates valuations.

The company announced in May that sales from the first stage of the development had secured more than $160 million in just one weekend.

When completed, a fifth of the Tullamore neighbourhood would be for public use including parkland.

The entire development is expected to be completed within six years.

RELATED: Golf course project by Mirvac to include 800 new homes in Doncaster