Wedge hedge fund

By CASEY NEILL
FRIENDS of Glenfern Green Wedge are forging ahead with plans to buy the property, following a Knox City Council letter of support.
But 157-173 Glenfern Road’s owners say they’re focussing on their application before council to split the two lots into five, averaging 13 acres each.
The 77-acre property was the subject of a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) appeal last year after the council rejected plans to divide it into seven lots.
VCAT agreed but said “we want to make it clear that we do not agree with any suggestion that this land should remain un-subdivided”.
So its four owners came up with a new plan they said was good for the community and the environment, included 3000 new trees, would not remove any existing trees, and donated 10 acres of land along Ferny Creek to the council.
But Friends of Glenfern Green Wedge Group (FGGW) was not satisfied and asked the council for support to purchase the property or part of it, which it would gift to Knox as public open space.
At their 26 June meeting councillors unanimously voted to provide the group with a letter of support for its fund-raising efforts, vowed to accept any land it successfully bought and manage it alongside Melbourne Water and FGGW, and agreed to take part in discussions with the land’s owners.
Dobson Ward councillor Sue McMillan said the applicants and objectors would come together this month for a public consultative council meeting and she hoped to see councillors vote on the matter next month.
FGGW president Johanna Selleck said the group was now seeking pledges and approaching potential donors.
“It’s always been the aim, right from the start,” she said of the purchase plan.
“It’s the fairest solution for everyone involved.”
Ms Selleck said the land’s owners would be financially compensated and the land would be saved for future generations. She said it was situated on Ferny Creek and home to significant flora and fauna, and the council’s support was proof it was behind them.
“It’s fantastic,” she said.
“We will do what needs to be done.”
Ms Selleck said preventing development on the site would be a significant win for all green wedge areas, and urged people to visit www.fggw.org to make a pledge.
But one of the landowners, Nick Peterson, said the council was very careful in the way it said it would support the group, which did not include any contribution towards the proposed purchase.
“It’s a letter of support and we see it as only that,” he said.
Mr Peterson said the owners had not yet discussed the possibility of selling to FGGW.
“There’s no-one talking to us. We haven’t been contacted by anyone at all and we don’t think it’s appropriate to talk until the application is heard,” he said.
“We’re focused on getting it through council at this stage.”
Mr Peterson said they felt they’d complied with every directive from last year’s VCAT decision and took heart from the commissioner’s comments.
“We’re hopeful that it will be approved by council,” he said.
“But if not, we’ll reassess the situation and look at our options.”