North East Link: Websters Rd Templestowe deemed unsuitable as temporary home for Bulleen Business Precinct
Almost 100 Bulleen businesses appear destined to be destroyed by North East Link after a nearby site for them to potentially move to was deemed unsuitable in the short term.
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Almost 100 Bulleen businesses in the path of North East Link have nowhere to go after a potential new home was ruled out.
And the president of an action group for the businesses said the decision has left them “swinging in the breeze with no idea what is going on”.
A feasibility study of 2-14 Websters Rd in Templestowe, conducted by Manningham Council and the North East Link Authority, found the 4.5ha site could not be developed in time before the businesses were forced to move.
The $16 billion road project is set to wipe out the Bulleen Business Precinct, in Greenaway St and Kim Close, and its design and construction would affect 96 of its 110 businesses.
Swan Plastics’ David Monk said he and other members of the Bulleen Industrial Zone Group were disappointed with the decision.
Mr Monk said the Websters Rd move had strong support from businesses and it was likely to be 90 per cent occupied.
“Due to the site’s positioning, the process required to rezone it appears to have been insurmountable,” he said.
“After all the comings and goings between the council and NE Link, I think people were resigned to the fact it wasn’t going to go ahead.”
Mr Monk said the council had reached out to offer assistance “in any way” but he was “unsure what form that could possibly take”.
“We’ve been on tenterhooks for three years, all been planning for the worst … at this stage we are swinging in the breeze with no idea what is going on.”
Mayor Paul McLeish said the authority and the council had “explored a range of alternative locations” but the Websters Rd site was the only one which could “provide an immediate solution” in Manningham.
He said the study found the site could eventually be used as an industrial and employment hub, but could not be finished “within the two year time frame” set by the authority.
Cr McLeish said the council would continue to investigate other relocation options.
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North East Link Authority chief executive Duncan Elliot said it would work closely with the council to explore other potential site options for the businesses inside and outside of Manningham.
Mr Elliott said the authority was offering services such as independent relocation specialists, Jobs Victoria programs and upskilling programs for affected businesses and employees while they continued to look for a suitable site.