This was published 6 years ago
Massive, still-contaminated Defence site in Maribyrnong goes on market
By Clay Lucas
The sale of a massive chunk of badly contaminated inner city land, owned by Australia’s defence forces for a century, has begun, with the federal government appointing a sales agent.
The Maribyrnong Defence Site has been abandoned for more than a decade, and is badly contaminated following years of explosives being manufactured and tested by defence forces.
The Maribyrnong Defence Site, being put up for sale by the federal government.Credit: Justin McManus
The prime site sits on a picturesque bend in the Maribyrnong, with three kilometres of the land fronting onto the river.
A small part of the sprawling 128-hectare site has been decontaminated.
Despite most of it still having serious issues from decades of explosives manufacturing and testing, it will be, according to a 2017 pronouncement by Prime Minister Scott Morrison when he was treasurer, a new suburb of 6000 homes once it is redeveloped for housing.
That decision doubled the planned 3000 homes the state Labor government had in 2010 announced could be built on the site.
The Department of Defence on Thursday announced they had appointed agents CBRE to sell the land. The marketing campaign though is only seeking registrations of interest, and not bids for the site.
The registrations of interest to buy the site, which will close next month, will result in a list of eligible purchasers proceeding to the expression of interest stage.
During World War Two, there were 8000 workers on the site making explosives, although this changed in the 1960s to a much smaller workforce producing rockets for the military.
Defence effectively abandoned the site in 2006, and ever since has talked of it as a future housing site. But little has been done beyond plans produced by both Canberra and the Victorian government.
The 2017 proposal by Chinese developer Zhongren for the site.Credit: Zhongren
Plans were leaked last year of Chinese developer Zhongren’s concept for the site, which initially included digging canals through the site to create even more river frontage onto the Maribyrnong. That plan is believed to have been abandoned.
After the Chinese plan surfaced, Defence committed to ensuring any future purchaser returned community access to the river and prioritised creation of a new cycleway along the waterway.