Elsie Lange
The negotiation of the sale of Hanging Rock’s east paddock from Macedon Ranges council to the state government has been paused by a rescission motion, to be heard at an unscheduled council meeting next week.
At a meeting last week, council voted to proceed with the sale of the east paddock according to its terms, despite internal opposition from councillors.
Councillors Geoff Neil, Anne Moore and Rob Guthrie raised concerns around the sale of the land before the finalisation and endorsement of the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning’s (DELWP) Hanging Rock draft master plan.
Speaking against the motion to proceed with the sale, Guthrie urged his fellow councillors to wait to understand the ins-and-outs of the final plan before voting to go ahead.
“We shouldn’t be making a decision at this time… we should be waiting until we have all the information to make an informed decision with all the facts in front of us, like we do on any planning matter. We don’t make a decision halfway through,” he said.
The motion to rescind council’s decision made on May 25 will be considered on Tuesday, June 7 and 10.30am and livestreamed to council’s website.
In a statement, council said further information about the rescission will be provided in the agenda for the unscheduled meeting, to be published at 10am on Thursday, June 2.
