The report concluded there was very limited opportunities for development of new affordable housing in well-located areas of City of Greater Shepparton and that, combined, they would represent just 0.27 per cent of the total housing in 2024-25.
It said concentration was not an issue and the BeyondHousing and Wintringham-owned apartments above the car park would have separate entrances and management, effectively making them two smaller scale social housing developments on the site.
The review concluded that both sites were suitable for social housing and were not overly concentrated when considered in light of overall supply of social housing and the site contexts.
The report recommends council support to release the land.
A Social Housing — Site Options Assessment prepared by SEMS Property Advisory and Project Management looked at 16 potential sites for social housing in Shepparton, including former secondary school sites, other council car parks, the former fire station in Maude St and unused railway land.
Each site was given a weighting based on current ownership/availability, land value/cost, context within the statutory planning framework, location and constraints and likely highest or best use of the land.
The Nixon, Maude and Edward Sts car park received the highest weighted score of 4.1 out of 5.
The report found it was the most suitable to accommodate/allow for commencement of construction of a social housing development within the next 12 to 18 months, primarily because it is council owned, in a prime location that is underdeveloped, is centrally located and appears to only be constrained by the need for the built form design to address the concerns of the local community and residents, such as overlooking, overshadowing, height, setbacks and access.
The next best score was the Edward and Fryers Sts car park with 3.85.
The report concluded some sites may be considered too large (Rowe/High St car park and Maude/Vaughan St car park) and others may be too small (Edward/Fryers St car park).
Other sites were ruled out because of their current third-party ownership (private, authority or Crown) and the time and cost required to acquire them or their distance from amenities, transport and employment.
A Social Impact Assessment prepared by consultants Ethos Urban concluded that the level of impacts of the car park development ranged from low to high, but there were no major significant negative impacts identified that could not be effectively mitigated.
Equally, a revised economic impact assessment by the same firm found there were substantial benefits for the broader community and the proposal represented a positive investment proposition.
