Council votes to keep GV Link industrial precinct dream alive

The proposed GV Link project at 250 Toolamba Rd, Mooroopna, has been a long-held council goal and remains in its 2021-25 council plan and Mooroopna 2050 Regional Growth Plan.

The vision is to develop an industrial precinct and a freight hub, but the road towards that goal has been a rocky one.

In April 2014, council voted to postpone further development of the site until an investor was secured or funding for the Shepparton bypass was confirmed.

Given that decision, last week’s announcement by the Federal Government to withdraw its $208 million commitment to the bypass could have been seen as a death knell for the project.

At its monthly meeting on Tuesday, November 21, council resolved to advertise its intention to sell lots within stage one of GV Link at a discounted value and to call for submissions from business operators, manufacturers, producers or persons of a like nature.

Council noted the latest report outlining the business case for GV Link and heard of renewed commercial interest in the project, helped by a lack of available industrial land, has increased confidence in the project.

Speaking during the meeting, Cr Sam Spinks backed the proposed strategy.

“This project’s been sitting around for a very, very long time and it has finally gotten to a point where, as it says in the report, it has now reached the critical positive tipping point demonstrated by the growing interest from investors in the site,” she said.

Deputy Mayor Anthony Brophy acknowledged that the lack of progress on a bypass had held GV Link back, but also supported pursuing it.

“We need premium industrial land. Land is really highly sought after,’’ he said.

“Residential, agricultural, but also industrial and we have a parcel of land there that has that opportunity.’’

Cr Dinny Adem said he would back the proposal — cautiously.

“I’ll support this cautiously only because it’s a notice of intention, we’re not at the end point yet,” he said.

“I think we’ve fundamentally made an error from many years ago. I don’t think we can repair that now.”

Cr Adem said if the latest efforts were unsuccessful, then council should consider handing the project over to a developer.

That was a view shared by Cr Fern Summer, who was the only councillor to vote against the proposal.

“I still think we should consider potentially selling it to a private developer for them to do it,” she said.

“It will cut the cost considerably, and we’d still have the same outcome for our municipality, but I’m willing to go with the majority.”

Although he voted for the resolution, Cr Greg James also expressed his reservations about the project, particularly given the of support for a bypass.

“I know it hasn’t always relied on, and the whole emphasis wasn’t really built around the bypass, but I just would feel a little more comfortable if we did have that commitment from the government in regards to the bypass,” he said.

Cr Seema Abdullah also acknowledged the risks of pursuing the project but she said they had been considered.

“There’s a high-level risk assessment that has been done and many of the risks that we have discussed here, they have been included,” she said.

“I’m comfortable in that sense that we are looking at all the benefits and all the risks and we’ll travel very cautiously. The rewards from this project are going to be huge.”

Cr Ben Ladson said the GV Link proposal amounted to a “high risk, high reward” project, but was confident it would be a success.

“In my opinion, build it, and they will come, just as they have for other developments in comparable regional areas, and why wouldn’t investors want to come to Greater Shepparton, the fruit bowl of Australia,” he said.

Cr Geoff Dobson, who moved the motion, saw the project as the “start of a wonderful expansion program” for Shepparton.

“The good thing about this report is that it says there are four buyers ready to go,’’ he said.

“All we’ve got to do is put the product on the ground and they’re ready to go.’’

Speaking after the meeting, Mayor Shane Sali said greater interest from investors had been a turning point for the project.

“We’ve obviously had the news regarding the bypass, but at the moment, the work that council has been doing over the course of the last 12 months with potential investors, not only locals, but ones wanting to expand their national footprint and in some ways, even the international footprint, are looking at our region,” Cr Sali said.

“I mean, that type of industrial precinct is sort of hard to come by, especially in a regional area with affordable land and that’s what’s really sort of attractive to those people that are looking to invest.”