MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire councillors have agreed to sell off another piece of surplus property – this time a “laneway” off Myers Rd, Balnarring that, technically, it does not yet own – for $22,000.
A report to council stated that the 12.67 metres wide by 713.7 metres long strip of land was designated as a road in the early 1900s subdivision.
The proposal resulted from a request by the owner of 7 Turners Rd, Balnarring, to buy the land. The “laneway” runs north from Myers Rd, between properties at 234 and 238 Myers Rd. It abuts the eastern boundary of the Turners Rd property, which could use it as a second entrance.
Purchase of the land could become a bidding contest – at $22,000, the 9042.5 square metres of land is priced at some $2.43 a metre. It could appeal to at least two and possibly three adjacent property owners.
The map in the council agenda does not make clear how many properties adjoin the “road” or the precise location of the 7 Turners Rd property boundary. This is partly because the agenda map does not extend all the way to Turners Rd.
A recent aerial photo of the area shows the full 7 Turners Rd property and the various buildings it contains. A 2009 “cadastral” (property boundary) map, which purports to show every property boundary on the peninsula, shows property boundaries that differ from those indicated on the agenda map.
An old subdivision map of the area was also not helpful beyond showing the road. But it indicated that significant boundary changes have taken place over more than a century.
The officer’s report stated that the land is unconstructed, zoned Green Wedge “and subject to an Environmental Significance Overlay”.
“Preliminary enquiries indicate that there are no underground assets in the laneway. Internal comment to the proposal has been sought in relation to traffic and drainage issues. No objections to the proposal were received,” the report states.
The title to the laneway was not currently in the shire’s name, “but will vest in council on its discontinuance prior to any sale. As part of the original subdivision a 20 centimetre (1 link) strip inside the eastern boundary of the subject land was excluded from the ‘road’ designation.”
It was assumed that this was to preclude access on to the laneway from the properties to the east of the laneway. “Advice from the Titles Office is that the laneway constitutes a ‘road’ on the plan of subdivision and that if it is to be discontinued and sold the 20 centimetre strip of land should be included as part of the process to vest the land in Council.” The sale price had beeen assessed at $22,000, “inclusive of GST. The applicant has also been advised that costs incurred by council in carrying out the statutory process will be payable up to a maximum of $5000”.
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 4 August 2015
