City proposes $50m property sale

THE City of Greater Geelong intends to offload about $50 million worth of council-owned commercial property to improve its finances and wants to hear community feedback about the proposed sales.

The land deals are key to the city’s plan to deliver four consecutive surpluses starting from the next financial year without cutting costs in its capital works budget.

The city announced its sale plan last week alongside its draft 2022-23 budget, which would see four properties go under the hammer to bolster coffers.

The proposed properties are:

• Civic Car Park at 21 Gheringhap Street, Geelong
• Busport Car Park and predominantly council office space at 30-54 Brougham Street, Geelong
• A ten-pin bowling centre and city-run maternal health centre at 17 Reynolds Road, Belmont, and
• Land now occupied by a KFC store at 200 Princes Highway, Corio.

The Gheringhap Street car park and maternal health centre would be sold under conditions that the sites are maintained for their present uses, for at least 10 and 20 years respectively.

Estimates indicate the land sales could generate about $52 million in revenue for the council.

The city said selling off surplus sites had improved its bottom line in recent years, with properties including the Old Geelong Gaol and Post Office generating $32 million in revenue.

The council’s finance portfolio chair Cr Anthony Aitken said the city and council would consider public submissions on the proposal before moving ahead with any sales.

“To repair our council budget in Geelong we have to sell an historic level of assets and we have identified some properties that don’t need to be under community ownership,” Cr Aitken said.

“The program will help us tackle our debt levels and reduce the need to borrow even more money in coming years, without impacting on residents’ rates. We have to live within our means in Geelong.

“I encourage the community to give us feedback on the identified properties. If there is strong negative feedback, we will review the assets identified and any other aspects of the proposed budget they are interested in.”

Meanwhile, the draft budget handed down last month also includes a plan to provide more funding for asset renewal.

The city has proposed a 10-year plan to guide upkeep of public infrastructure through to 2032.

The organisation manages $3.1 billion worth of assets, including roads, drainage, community buildings and recreation facilities.

The 2022-23 budget proposes to raise asset renewal outlay to $45.6 million, before ramping up to $56.9 million by 2025-26.

Submissions on both plans and the overall budget are open until May 24.