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This is the engagement page for the Proposal to sell Council land - 58-60 Station Street, Bayswater.

A print version of the submission form is available to download.

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The Bayswater Youth Hall was constructed in the 1960’s and included a public hall with an office / meeting room extension and before its closure had been used as a hall for hire. The building’s structural condition deteriorated significantly, forcing its closure in September 2017, and the relocation of hall users into alternative accommodation.

Works to repair the building would have been at significant cost to ratepayers. Given these concerns the building was demolished in 2020 before considering the future of the site.

Our Social and Affordable Housing Strategy (2023-2027) includes an action to identify surplus land in locations with good access to public transport, community, retail and social services as potential sites for social housing. This site meets these criteria.

Confidential negotiations have been completed to identify a suitable organisation, including an Expression of Interest and Request for Proposal.

Social housing is housing that is rented to low income households, with rent capped at a percentage of their income. Social housing does not include rooming houses or emergency accommodation. It is sometimes owned by State Government, but can also be owned by private business or non-profit organisations.

Modern social homes are designed to look the same as any other dwellings.

Creating more homes for people who need to pay lower rent will make our neighbourhood a better place for all of us, no matter how much we earn. It will keep families together and enable people who have put down roots here to stay in the area and contribute to the community.

Any future development on this site, whether it is social housing or other, would need to meet the planning scheme requirements. While current controls allow building heights of up to 5 storeys in the centre, development on this site would need to consider amenity impacts, including of increased height, to surrounding properties. The standard planning applications and approvals process would need to be undertaken, led by the developer / landowner.

A tree assessment was undertaken at 58 Station Street, Bayswater. It was determined that two trees T15 and T16 are of high retention value, due to their height, age and health but they are not described as significant.

Under the Request for Proposal “a plan of the vegetation is to be incorporated into the design of the site, which should include a plan or solutions for the retention of the two mature trees on the site.

A direct treaty is a land sale where the price and conditions are agreed on by the purchaser and seller privately without going through a typical public sale or auction process.

This is a legal and recognised process in line with Council’s Sale of Land & Buildings policy. Council has chosen to follow this process for this particular proposal as the conditions of the potential sale include more than just the price, but the ability of the purchaser to deliver social housing for the Knox community.

Community housing organisations do not have financial resources to purchase significant land. If they had to pay the market price for this land the project would not be viable.

The final subsidy for this sale will be calculated at the time of sale based on the up-to-date market value.

This process has been undertaken in line with the Knox Social and Affordable Housing Strategy (2023 – 2027) action 3.6 Undertake a transparent and competitive expression of interest process with Community Housing Providers when appropriate Council owned sites are identified for social housing development.

The housing associations are essentially competing against each other to be successful in their proposal, so the details remain confidential to protect their business.

Additionally, if Council decides not to proceed with this proposal, sharing details of the possible sale price could impact any future sale negotiations.