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In 2015 the university advised the club that it would not be renewing or extending the club's existing lease beyond its expiry date of the 25th January 2019 as they are considering alternative options for the land. Twice since receiving this advice, the Club has written to the university seeking short term extensions to the lease from January 2019 until a final decision on the proposed use of the land is completed and any legal requirements met. Both of these requests have been rebuffed.
An FOI request from the Club to the university seeking details of their future plans for the site have been rejected. A subsequent appeal to the FOI Commissioner has also been rejected. In both cases the reason for the rejection was that it was not in the public interest to release the relevant documentation! (So much for the opinions and considerations of the community!)
The minutes of a meeting in August 2016 between the university, City of Darebin and the Springthorpe Owners Corporation records that the university stated that it intends to obtain a rezoning of the Strathallan site so that it can then be sold for development. The university is currently preparing a development overlay to guide this re-development.
These same minutes indicate that the plans for the site are detailed in the University's recent Master Plan. Apart from a vague reference to a site that exists North of the Wildlife sanctuary that is underdeveloped, there is no further information within the Plan that is remotely relevant to the Strathallan site.
