One of the last major vacant blocks of land in the Ballarat central business district has gone on the market.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Redevelopment of the former Loreto College junior school was first approved at a Victorian Civil Administrative Tribunal hearing in 2012.
Since that time however, only minor works have been completed as changes to the initial permit were requested for the site on Lyons Street North.
A spokesperson for the developer said works were on hold while the owner investigated selling the site, but the permit was still valid.
However council development and planning director Angelique Lush said the permit lapsed in last year, and a second permit was being considered.
“Several objections were lodged by neighbouring residents and therefore the application is currently in the third party appeal period to VCAT,” she said.
Plans approved in 2012 included a five-storey building for 34 apartments and a medical centre on the ground the floor.
A former music building was also to be converted into four apartments.
Up to 95 car parks were planned at ground and partially underground level, along with 28 bicycle spaces.
Opponents of the development said at the time it was disappointing a five-story plan was approved for a property at the edge of the CBD.
The vacant lot at the site was just one part of the former Loreto College campus redevelopment.
Thirty-four serviced apartments opened on the site’s Dawson Street side in 2010.
Ballarat City mayor Samantha McIntosh said the approved planning permit had gone through extensive consultation in 2012.
“It went through significant scrutiny, it came in and out of the council chamber and it took a period of time before it was approved,” she said.
“Everyone who looks at that site will have a different view of it.
“There were certainly objectors, we sat with the objectors as councillors and they were able to contribute to it as part of that process.”