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Clock ticking on Holden sale

12/6/2020

4 Comments

 
PictureLeaked CBRE brochure for the Holden proving ground
By Catherine Watson
 
A COALITION of environmental and citizen groups is calling for urgent action by the council and government to protect the rare coastal woodlands of the Holden Proving Ground.
 
The clock is ticking with a national commercial real estate company last week privately circulating a sales brochure for the 877-hectare site between Lang Lang and The Gurdies.
 
The brochure, which was leaked to a Commodore fan’s Facebook page, gives no indication of price for the iconic site. The sales process appears to be by invitation only with no listing on CBRE’s own site or any of the national commercial real estate sites.

The Post queried GM Holden on the price range and interest but received a one-sentence  response: “The GM Holden proving ground at Lang Lang is for sale and is currently the subject of a competitive and private sale process.”
 
Last month, Bass Coast councillors unanimously supported a motion to ask the State Government to buy the site for the preservation and recognition of its “environmental, cultural and coastal habitat values”. The council is awaiting a response from the Government.
 
The Victorian National Parks Association is also seeking government support to preserve the site as part of a wider Western Port biolink or national park.
 
Established by Holden in 1957, the proving ground is surrounded by a high fence and woodlands in an effort to keep the latest model secret from the prying eyes of motoring journalists and rival car companies.
 
The need for secrecy produced an unexpected result: most of the site is remnant coastal forest, now rare in West Gippsland. In recent years, Holden worked with Bass Coast Landcare to manage and monitor the forest, which is home to several rare and endangered native species.
Previous Post stories
Fast forward to 2022
April 17, 2020 - Mikhaela Barlow imagines a special day for Bass Coast – the re-opening of the community-owned Holden Proving Grounds.
It's time for our own national park
April 3, 2020 - The GMH Proving Ground would make a fitting entrance to Bass Coast and a new national park, writes Meryl Brown Tobin 
Holden’s last hurrah
​March 20, 2020 - GM-Detroit owes Australia, writes Tim O’Brien, and the Holden proving ground is the perfect parting gift.
Picture
The site is currently zoned for farming and has no environmental overlays or protections and there is concern that it could be bought for sand extraction.
 
The coalition seeking protection includes representatives of the Victorian National Parks Association, Bass Coast Landcare, National Trust Bass Coast Branch, the Phillip Island Conservation Society, South Gippsland Conservation Society, Bass Coast Climate Action, the Healesville to Phillip Island Nature Link, Coronet Bay Ratepayers & Residents Association, the Tenby Point Ratepayers & Residents Association, the Westernport Swamp Landcare Group and the Cardinia Environment Coalition.
 
A local member of the group, Meryl Tobin, says time is running out. The Gurdies resident urges concerned Bass Coast residents and others to contact Bass MP Jordan Crugnale, Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio and Premier Daniel Andrews asking them to act urgently to protect the site.
 
Group member Tim O’Brien says this is the last remaining significant pocket of preserved coastal forest in the whole of the Western Port Region.
 
He wants the council to begin the process of rezoning the site or adding environmental, heritage and landscape overlays on it. Although it’s a long process, he says beginning it would send a signal to prospective buyers.
 
The CBRE brochure from lists 18kms of perimeter fencing, 44kms of vehicle testing tracks, lab and proving ground infrastructure, potential depreciation benefits and vacant possession from July 2020.
 
GM-Detroit announced earlier this year that it was pulling out of the Australian market and would sell its Australian assets, including the proving ground, which was used to test generations of Holden cars in Australian conditions.
 
Holden enthusiasts are also floating the idea of crowd funding to buy the site as a museum of the much loved Aussie car.
 
On June 5 Which Car reported that an expected sale to Linfox, the transport firm owned by Lindsay Fox, seems to have fallen through. Linfox already owns the Phillip Island race track  and the 1141-hectare Anglesea vehicle testing ground.
 
Another prospective buyer is VinFast, a Vietnamese automotive company that has been recruiting Australian engineers following the demise of this country’s automotive manufacturing industry.
4 Comments
Meryl Tobin
13/6/2020 03:35:56 pm

A great article, Catherine! It summarizes how local groups and individuals have been working to save the woodlands of the GMH Proving Ground since first alerted to the probability of the site coming on the market. Hopefully, Bass Coast Shire Council will pass motions concerning the Proving Ground next meeting.
Should the Victorian Government buy the Proving Ground, what a chance to set up an almost instant Western Port National Park (working title only)––one starting less than 100 km from Melbourne and taking in reserves stretching along the Bass Highway from Lang Lang to the Corinella turn-off and then to Bass Landing on the Bass River and back along the coast taking in foreshore land to the Lang Lang River. What a gateway to many of Melbourne’s prime tourism areas!
The purchase of the Proving Ground is the key to the establishment of such a park.
Anyone who agrees with the proposal for the State Government to buy the Proving Ground and the reason why should let our Government representatives know immediately. If not, the land could be sold any time behind closed doors to someone else.
Contact the Member for Bass, Jordan Crugnale: Jordan.Crugnale@parliament.vic.gov.au, 9 McBride Avenue, Wonthaggi, VIC 3995 or ph (03) 5672 4755; the Premier, Daniel Andrews, daniel.andrews@parliament.vic.gov.au, and the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Lily DÁmbrosio lily.dambrosio@parliament.vic.gov.au.

Reply
Rob Wilson
14/6/2020 12:02:01 pm

One of the last areas of its kind . It must be saved .

Reply
Anne Heath Mennell
14/6/2020 01:45:23 pm

Thank you Catherine for this succinct summary of the situation. I hope many readers will support this campaign by contacting relevant politicians and spread the word to anyone else who might add to the effort. In other times there would have been public meetings to inform the community and share the reasons why protecting this site is so vital. Make your views known anyway you can!

Reply
Trevor Brown
14/6/2020 02:19:55 pm

This is an excellent summary of the effort that a large number of people and organisations have put in, in order to save this site and it's unique flora and fauna for future generations. The importance of this site from an environmental and ecological view point cannot be overstated. You would think that Bass Coast Council and Victorian State Government, both very vocal in their green ideologies, would have jumped at the chance to take positive action on this matter. I find it interesting that the Bass Council chose to approach the State Government on the issue rather that applying its own protective overlay on the property. It is a mystery to me why the Bass Coast Council did not decide to do both. This would have given some protection and clearly demonstrated council's intent. I would be interested to know whether the council receives rates for the property and if so how much and whether the council receives a royalty for the removal of sand from the site. Also the value of such royalty. I have been following the discussion on this matter and the one thing that stands out is that whenever council's actions are queried those queries are dismissed as being negative and not to be actually answered. It seems to me that it is possible, council decided to take this matter to the State Government knowing there was no chance they would buy the property. This way Council and councilors will be seen to be trying to do the right thing only to be thwarted by the State Government. This way they will be able to point out that Council raised a motion to approach the State Government to buy the property, This motion was supported by all councilors and passed unanimously. Subsequently Council officers and councilors made repeated approaches to the State government with out success. Once the property has been sold, we need to deal with the new owners and reach agreement on usage and protection measures..

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