Engagement Summary

3 May 2023

In accordance with Section 115 of the Local Government Act 2020, community engagement must be undertaken prior to leasing any Council-owned land. This report provides an overview of the outcomes of community engagement that took place between September 2021 and July 2022 regarding the proposed lease of Council owned land for use as Affordable Housing at 1F Ashline Street Wollert.

Read the more detailed report here or download it from the Document Library.

Update 1F Ashline Street - Council decision

3 May 2023

At the 18 April 2023 meeting, Council made the decision to seek expressions of interest for a Community Housing Organisation to lease the land at 1F Ashline St in Wollert for affordable housing.

The decision was made after extensive community consultation dating back to 2021 which included an online survey, online information session, focus groups and an in-person community drop-in session. The recommendation took on board community feedback and will require any proposal to meet the following criteria:

• a high-quality design integrated with the surrounding neighbourhood character
• development not exceeding two storeys and be single detached, duplex and townhouse style only
• establish a comprehensive community development program alongside the development
• provision of a flexible community space on the site that would be managed by Council as part of the adjacent community activity centre
• preferentially allocate the homes to local residents or people with local connections in the following cohorts; young families, older people, women, key workers and people with disabilities.

You can view a copy of the council minutes at the City of Whittlesea website.

Local residents will be invited to provide feedback on draft plans and designs in the future once a suitable Community Housing Organisation is selected and plans have been prepared.

If you have any questions, please contact Council at

strategic.planning@whittlesea.vic.gov.au or on 9217 2056.

As you may be aware, Council is considering a proposal to lease the vacant land at 1F Ashline Street, Wollert to provide affordable housing for local people.

Council resolved to seek community feedback on this proposal and held a number of consultation opportunities including a community drop-in at the Kirrip Centre Wollert, online focus groups, surveys and an online information session.

The community provided Council with a lot of feedback to consider. Your contribution is important to us and we have reviewed all feedback in detail.

The proposal will be considered at a Council Meeting on 18 April 2023 at 6.30pm in the Council Chamber at the Civic Centre at 25 Ferres Boulevard, South Morang with outcomes to be shared following the Meeting.

Thank you for your interest in this proposal. If you have any questions, please contact Council at strategic.planning@whittlesea.vic.gov.au or on 9217 2170.

As you may be aware, last year Council presented a proposal to lease the vacant land at 1F Ashline Street, Wollert to provide affordable housing for local people.

Council resolved to seek community feedback on this proposal and held a number of consultation opportunities including online focus groups, surveys and an online information session. The most recent opportunity offered for community feedback was a drop-in session at Kirrip Community Centre on Saturday 16 July 2022.

The community has provided Council with a lot of feedback to consider. Your contribution is very important to us and we are still reviewing it in detail. Council is committed to ensure that the communities’ contributions and views on how Ashline Street should be used is given appropriate consideration. On this basis, we are writing to let you know that a decision on the proposal won’t be made this year but will be considered by Council in a meeting early in 2023.

As you have registered your interest in this project, you will be given advance notice of when the proposal is scheduled to be considered at a future Council meeting. We will write to you to let you know and provide updated details on our Engage Whittlesea website.

Thank you for your interest in this proposal. If you have any questions, please contact Council at strategic.planning@whittlesea.vic.gov.au or on 9217 2056.

Last year Council presented a proposal to lease the vacant land at 1F Ashline Street, Wollert to provide community housing for local people.

While extensive online engagement was conducted in 2021 during lockdown, COVID restrictions had limited the opportunity for community conversations and in person forums. In 2021 we hosted an online information session about the proposal, during which we received many questions from the community. You can view these questions and responses to each by clicking here.

We understand there are some strong views about this proposal, so we are providing more opportunities for our community to participate in this important conversation. We held some online focus groups in early June 2022 with local residents and an independent facilitator.

We held a Community Drop in session on Saturday 16th July 2022, 11am - 2pm at Kirrip Community Centre.

Stay up to date with this project by clicking the Follow button (at the top left of page) or contact the Strategic Futures Team by emailing strategic.planning@whittlesea.vic.gov.au

Council asked the community to provide feedback on a proposal to lease 1F Ashline Street, Wollert, for affordable housing between September and October 2021 through an online survey and interactive information session. You can watch a recording of the information session on Council’s YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsBpwxrA6uY&t=108s

During the consultation, we heard from many people who had questions and concerns about this proposal. We want to make sure everyone has an opportunity to raise and discuss any issues before a decision is made on this proposal so we will be continuing the conversation in 2022, extending the consultation period and broadening the opportunities for people to have their say to ensure we hear from as many people as possible.

Originally, we had planned for this proposal, including the community feedback, to be considered at the December Council Meeting for decision; however, we have postponed this until 2022 to give us time for additional community engagement activities.

If you would like to receive project updates via email, please contact the Strategic Futures Team at strategic.planning@whittlesea.vic.gov.au.