An acquisition of the former Yarrawonga Primary School site is back on Moira Shire Council’s radar after councillors officially agreed to formally consider its purchase at last Wednesday’s July ordinary meeting.
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Despite an expected large impending debt burden of such a purchase or the impact it may have on other planned projects going forward council moved to consider acquiring the site when it becomes clear whether the property is being offered for sale as a whole or in separate parts.
Department of Education and Training (DET) has indicated that the site is no longer required for education and is working towards disposal of the land by an initial first right of refusal offer (FROR) to public authorities.
Community suggestions that the State Government may depart from its sale of surplus land policy based on past crown land transactions to establish a site for the P-12 has not produced any known positive response from the minister’s office and appears to be an unlikely proposition.
The FROR process is on a restricted title at discounted valuation on the basis the land and buildings are retained and used for “municipal purposes and non-commercial in nature.
Councillors overwhelmingly agreed to move forward and consider its purchase highlighting the site’s “valuable location” but were keen to see what the discounted valuation would be to council.
Cr Ed Cox remarked that if a private developer acquires the site they would “have to have huge, deep pockets to tackle all this plus the time restraints”.
A site assessment prepared by council staff clearly outlined the financial implication of purchasing the prime location. In the report tabled at the meeting it states that “acquisition and restoration would require a substantial investment that would impact council’s budget position and capacity to fund other approved and worthwhile projects given that council’s current strong liquidity is largely committed and declining over the four-year budget outlook.
Moira Shire Council CEO Mark Henderson told the Yarrawonga Chronicle back in March that it was “beyond council’s financial capacity” to purchase such a site.
The assessment report noted there are $48m of competing infrastructure and community projects in and around Yarrawonga to service the town’s growing population over the next decade. This includes the proposed multisport stadium but does not include YARC’s desire for an indoor aquatic facility which is likely to be an additional $15m.
The assessment report states that debt finance is how council will likely fund such an acquisition given the “reasonable” expectation that other projects would not be jeopardized. It sated that a committed contribution to the Numurkah flood mitigation project which is expected to be around $6m plus State and Federal funding and then adding further debt for the Yarrawonga primary school site would take the council from almost a debt free position to one where interest costs and debt repayment becomes a significant burden on council’s annual budget.
It appears that even if council wanted to purchase only part of the site come with its problems. The report also highlighted the apparent overlap of buildings and title boundaries indicating that securing only part of the site would be problematic if there were multiple future owners.
Estimates for restoring the core buildings to a useable condition are substantial with an estimated cost of $3.3m, and in their current built form have limited re-use potential as they were purpose built.
The core buildings on the site includes the purpose-built court house, fire station and primary school. The court house is state heritage listed and therefore adaption to an alternate use would need to be based on the current building style and footprint. The fire station and primary school attract local heritage status with both consisting of large rooms reflective of the former use. Another part of the site which is not on DET land is the small site North East Water (NEW) own which includes the town’s original water tower. NEW has indicated they would be prepared to relinquish the site.
The report highlighted the risk of acquiring the site with century old structures and buildings that have no obvious community use is a high-risk approach to property acquisition.
“The best way to mitigate councils risk exposure, if it seeks to secure the site, is that it approaches the acquisition on an unencumbered freehold basis so that it can have greater control of future dealings in the buildings and the land,” the report states.
The assessment report did however acknowledge the site is a unique parcel of land that may provide a longer-term benefit to support Yarrawonga’s growth but acquisition and building restoration would seriously impact council’s budget position in the short to medium term.
Cr Ed Cox – “Sites like this in any rural town are very valuable especially in a location where there is a lake. A private developer that comes in will have to have huge, deep pockets to tackle all this plus the time restraints. Yarrawonga is our fastest growing town and it’s not lost on any councillor that the challenges that Yarrawonga face and the opportunity that now presents for the future of Yarrawonga. At least this shire is now in the position that if we need to go and look for money we can.”
Cr Wendy Buck – “This is the first step in the process, this is going to be a long-term project. We can set the groundwork in these next steps, it’s a really great place to start. A priority can be for what the community want on the site.”
Cr Marie Martin – “You only get one go at this, once that’s sites gone that it. We need to explore the opportunities because this is right in the middle of Yarrawonga and its prime location, you couldn’t get a better site. It’s an intergenerational project because it would involve all people, we have to show vision as a council. I know in other parts of Yarrawonga parking is a problem, this would offer lots of space for parking, meeting place, right across from Lake Mulwala.
Cr Gary Cleveland – “I have had involvement in that site, being a primary school teacher at that site for three years, it has changed quite a bit, but it is a great site and it has improved greatly. We hope that the price tag is not greatly inflated when we look to try and acquire the land, it is something we can really look forward to.”
Cr Kevin Bourke – “Our job as elected council is to advocate for the community, but we need to attain all the information. Early days we were told the school site was unattainable, well that’s turned out not to be the case, whichever way we go forward I think is going to be challenging.
Cr John Beitzel – “My headspace is that whenever I buy something, I generally like to know a price. In regard to the Victorian government evaluations, once we get that information that will give us a much clearer picture, but I am comfortable with the recommendation that allows us to continue to acquire the site, leaves it open.
Cr Peter Lawless – “I think it would be fair to say as a council we have moved a long way on our thinking on this site. The community has clearly demonstrated the need for us to be looking at acquiring that site.”