In years gone by it’s been the place for a drive-in cinema, a trash and treasure market, a caravan park and a disability support centre.
But today most of this sprawling wedge of land just beyond EastLink lies empty and in ruins. Hoyts has dismantled the drive-in and the caravans have been moved on. The shuttered disability support accommodation has been trashed by vandals and served as a home to squatters.
City of Knox mayor Jude Dwight says the outer east is in acute need of health services and affordable housing.Credit: Justin McManus
A master plan to develop the 22-hectare site in Wantirna into a new “health city” for Melbourne’s outer east was first published by state planning authorities in 2020, but there is no visible progress on delivering it.
The Victorian Planning Authority’s ambitious plans included a new public hospital, allied health services, aged care, tertiary education, offices, shops, open space including a wetland, and affordable housing for essential workers.
The Department of Transport and Planning proposed a planning scheme amendment in early 2023, which would trigger development of the health city on the largely surplus VicRoads land. But since then, the plan has seemingly stalled.
City of Knox mayor Jude Dwight said the lack of communication from the state government was frustrating. The site would fill a glaring hole in this part of Melbourne for a new public hospital and for housing close to jobs, she said.
“To have 22 hectares of surplus land with an area that is privately owned, all in this junction of roads that meet in this beautiful triangle, it’s really prime real estate for this kind of opportunity,” Dwight said.
The site was first identified as a possible future home for a hospital in 2014.