Property prices will drop if public housing is included in the redevelopment of Victoria University’s former campus on Jacksons Hill, Hume councillor Jack Medcraft claims.
Councillor Medcraft said he is concerned that residential redevelopment of the historic precinct would include “commission housing”, which would devalue neighbouring properties.
“When you’re talking about subdivision and developing that land, I believe it would,” he said.
“I would oppose commission housing at that site, and putting in high density housing. Residents at Jacksons Hill don’t pay as much as [they] do to live up there, to then have their property devalued because of commission housing nearby.”
He said he would prefer a trades centre or a customs training facility in any redevelopment of the site, which was originally the Sunbury Lunatic Asylum, to take advantage of its heritage buildings and grounds.
But Sunbury MP Josh Bull, who tabled a petition in June with more than 1200 signatures calling for government protection of the 35-hectare site, is determined Jacksons Hill is retained for education and community uses.
The petition was compiled by Sunbury Asylum Alliance and Sunbury Community Progress Association, which are pushing for a proper masterplan for the site.
Mr Bull said residents need certainty and a plan to guide future development, and a masterplan would identify the best uses.
And he would did not rule out including public housing in that masterplan, nor emergency housing.
“We are taking action,” he said.
“It is clear to me that a masterplan is required to ensure that the site is protected,” he told Star Weekly.
Uses for the site need to reflect “the current and future needs of the Sunbury community”, Mr Bull said.
He said he has asked Planning Minister Richard Wynne to lead a whole-of-government approach to the Jacksons Hill redevelopment.
He said it is also important that the government works closely with Hume council, nearby residents and the Sunbury community.
