Monash fails in land bid

By Rebecca Fraser
CONTENTIOUS plans to sell land at Berwick’s Monash University campus for residential housing appear to have been quashed by the State Government.
University officials last week said they had been told selling the land was not an option.
The move ends years of simmering community discontent about the proposed land sale, as spearheaded by the Berwick Chamber of Commerce who publicly opposed the plan.
Last Friday, Monash University pro vicechancellor and academic head of Berwick campus Professor Phillip Steele said the State Government’s decision regarding the current Berwick campus plan had cleared the way for the university to pursue a more gradual development than originally proposed.
Instead of comprising a housing development, Prof Steele said the new strategy was likely to include developing academic activities at the campus and establishing an Education Precinct by strengthening ties with nearby institutions and exploring options for attracting other educational and research bodies to the site.
He also foreshadowed that the Clyde Road Campus would be keen to attract retail, sporting and recreational activities to the site to improve amenities for students and staff and strengthen links with nearby secondary schools and the local community.
Prof Steele said the new plan would also look at enhancing ties to the degree programs offered at the Berwick campus, possibly involving a Monash College that would provide a strong linking program between the school and the university.
Last June (Gazette 22 June), architects Billard Leece Partnerships listed a project, Monash University Berwick Campus Urban Plan, on its website, that included plans for a major housing development.
In a statement on the site last June, Billard Leece said the university had an inprinciple agreement with Delfin Lend Lease to develop the campus with private, residential, commercial, retail and academic space.
Following this revelation, Prof Steele spoke of the Berwick campus’s’ difficulty in drawing students and lecturers to the university and spoke of the trend within higher education for universities to become more financially selfreliant.
However, this justification did not win the support of the Berwick Chamber of Commerce, with president Michael Hall vowing to fight the land sale plans.
Mr Hall this week welcomed news that the State Government had rejected the plan.
He said the development of housing and retail would detract from Berwick Village and proposed, instead, that a shared health, education and shopping precinct be created joining the High Street shopping village with Casey Hospital, Chisholm Institute and Berwick’s Monash University.
“I was very against this. There needs to instead be a greater integration between the campus and the village to create a major activity centre with an education and health precinct integrated with the village,” he said.
“I am glad this has finally been put to bed as they have been trying to do this for a couple of years. It has stopped progress because they have not been eyeing off other solutions that would be more compatible.”
In recent months, the State Government has announced plans to build a Technical Education Centre in Berwick but its location is yet to be revealed.
It is believed the new multimillion dollar centre will be located within either the Chisholm Institute of Tafe or Monash University site.
Prof Steele said that in developing the new strategy, the university would extensively consult campus staff and students and the local community over the coming months.
The Gazette contacted Planning Minister Rob Hull’s office this week and local MPs but had not received a response by print time.