Geelong plan delays stall Villawood's 4,500-lot Moorabool project

Realestate.com.au reported on 4 November that no precinct structure plan for Geelong’s Northern and Western Growth Area has cleared approval since the plans fell due in 2023, leaving landholders and developers in the corridor, which is expected to house 110,000 new residents, unable to move.

Why it matters

The outlet reported that the Victorian Government took over planning for four precincts in the corridor in June, and that the first plan lodged under that arrangement, for the Creamery Road precinct, was sent back to Geelong council by Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny for further work. Villawood Properties, the lead developer on the Creamery Road precinct’s 4,500-lot Moorabool project, called the submitted plan an impending disaster, the outlet reported. Villawood executive director Rory Costelloe was reported as saying the development contributions levy and the reduced developable area made the project unfeasible without lifting land prices to an unaffordable level.

The numbers

Realestate.com.au reported two land sales in Lovely Banks, on the corridor’s western fringe, as evidence of the uncertainty: a 2.2-hectare property at 760 Anakie Rd sold for $1.2 million last week after around a year on the market through three agents, while a 2.2-hectare property across the road at 735 Anakie Rd, zoned to remain rural living, sold in March for $1.211 million after three weeks. HF Richardson Property agent Matt Poustie, who handled the 760 Anakie Rd sale, told the outlet: “Overall, the urban growth zone probably didn’t work in our favour.” The outlet reported he said there was not a lot of confidence in the state government’s direction on the precinct plans.

What’s next

The outlet did not report a date for when the Creamery Road precinct plan, or any of the other three precincts the state government took over in June, is next due back before the council or the minister. Villawood’s position, as reported, is that the Moorabool project’s 4,500 lots stay unfeasible at current contribution and land-area settings, which leaves the next move with the Victorian Government and Geelong council rather than the developer. Elsewhere in Geelong’s growth corridors, the pattern is not uniform: in Armstrong Creek, on the city’s southern side, Tarratarra Stadium opened ahead of its own completion window, showing public infrastructure can outpace a program even as the precinct plans landbankers in the north and west are waiting on stay stuck.