Only 3 of 17 reserves to be sold by Nillumbik Council

FOURTEEN reserves in Melbourne’s north that were earmarked for sale by Nillumbik Council have been saved from the chopping block after thousands of people protested.

Residents pack the Nillumbik Council chambers last night as the proposed land sales were discussed by councillors.

• Community speaks up against Nillumbik sales plan
• Protests to sell Nillumbik land step up
• 17 blocks could go under the hammer

FOURTEEN reserves have been saved from the chopping block as Nillumbik Council last night declared it would sell only three lots of land.

Two blocks — 18a Citriodora Court, Diamond Creek and 303 Plenty River Drive, Greensborough — were sold unanimously, while the sale of 251 Yan Yean Rd, Plenty, was opposed by councillors Bruce Ranken and John Dumaresq.

Hundreds packed the chamber for the heated meeting with several brandishing signs reading; “We’re Angry”, “98% say no” and “No Sale”.

Cr Jane Ashton delivered an impassioned plea to her fellow councillors and received a standing ovation from the crowd.

“In rural areas, there is a saying, ‘don’t sell the farm’,” she said.

“The farms in Diamond Creek and Eltham were sold due to development and these parcels are what is left from historical subdivision. Why would we sell what’s left?”

Cr Ashton also took aim at the line of questioning some councillors took during the submission process.

“I do not applaud some of the nature of questions and I’m not comfortable with the way some submitters were treated,” she said.

“However, I please ask you to respect all councillors speaking tonight otherwise I will have to walk out and my reasonable voice would have to leave with me.”

Cr Grant Brooker pushed for the sale of eight blocks, which left residents seeing red.

He said John Hewson arguably wrote the “longest political suicide note”.

“I want a shot at the title,” he said.

Cr Brooker was well on his way when he questioned the worthiness of online petitions, as a 10,000-signature petition was tabled from residents, before decisions on land sales had been made.

Fellow councillors Dumaresq and Egan took aim at Cr Brooker’s arguments throughout the night.

Meanwhile, mayor Peter Clarke continued to highlight the reason the land sales were mooted was because the State Government had slashed the growing suburbs fund in half, to $25 million, which severely impacted the council’s ability to deliver services and projects.

But since the funding has been reinstated, Cr Clarke said their plan to “maximise the amount of pressure we could garner” worked.

“We said we would listen. We engaged in long consultation sessions … I’ve replied to every email and phone call,” he said.

The reserves that were saved will be classified as public park and recreation.