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Banyule City Council

Visit the Banyule City Council website at www.banyule.vic.gov.au.

ADCO Constructions is currently building new staff accommodation and community facilities on top of WaterMarc for Banyule Council. Work started in October 2015 and is expected to finish in December 2016, ready for staff to move in to and community to access in January 2017.

Council is investing $23m in new staff accommodation and community facilities, bringing economic benefits, long term productivity and financial savings. Council is also investing $8 million in 2,200m2 of commercial office space on top of WaterMarc, which will be leased for long term returns.

This project, a total investment of $31m, was foreshadowed in 2007 with Council’s release of the Greensborough Project, a plan to revitalise the area and influence future planning and development of the Greensborough Activity Centre.

Council has already successfully completed:

  • WaterMarc – attracting 805,444 visits in 2014/15.
  • Town Square – hosting events like Carols by Candlelight.
  • Greensborough Walk – providing better access between Greensborough Station, WaterMarc and Main Street, a venue for events and activities, and the location for new shops and offices currently under construction.

Fast facts

  • An environmentally sustainable building.
  • WaterMarc was purposely designed for offices to be built on top of it so construction will be relatively easy with little disruption to WaterMarc, surrounding residents and businesses.
  • Bringing 320 Council staff together from three office locations – Ivanhoe, Rosanna and Greensborough.
  • One stop customer service area with better facilities for planning, building, engineering and health enquiries.
  • Increase in community meeting rooms.
  • Completely accessible – complying with the Disability Discrimination Act.
  • 2,200 square metres of commercial office space on the second floor providing a long term income stream for Council.

Project benefits

This project brings many other benefits including:

  • Better facilities and access for the community, with more meeting rooms, a better customer service area, and increased accessibility.
  • Improved energy efficiency and a reduced carbon footprint.
  • An estimated $1m in annual ongoing savings in net operating costs and improved productivity by collocating staff.
  • Reduced duplication and more responsive and effective systems, such as information technology, telecommunications and records management.
  • Elimination of travel times between three offices, reducing costs and increasing efficiency.
  • 335 jobs (244 in Banyule) during construction, which will also bring bringing new business to local traders.
  • Important and ongoing income stream for Council, and increased local job opportunities, from the 2nd floor of commercial office space.

Other important facts

  • Council will retain customer service points in Ivanhoe and Rosanna, ensuring easy access for people across Banyule. Council meetings will continue to be held at Ivanhoe in the heritage listed town hall building.
  • Council is funding this project from existing reserves generated from the sale of Council owned properties in Greensborough and Rosanna, as originally proposed. Council is not raising additional rates or curtailing other infrastructure projects.
  • WaterMarc will remain operational during the construction of the office.
  • Relocating staff to Greensborough also paves the way for an $18.5m Ivanhoe community hub, which will bring improved and expanded community facilities, including significantly enhanced library services, meeting spaces, café and dedicated gallery.

Parking

A Car Parking Management Plan has been developed for One Flintoff to better understand and manage the impact of the Council and commercial offices above WaterMarc. This plan considers the existing parking supply and demand throughout the Greensborough Activity Centre, and provides direction on how to manage parking across the centre to provide the best outcome for all of the precinct’s users.

To ensure short term parking remains available for visitors and patrons of Watermarc, the existing car parking Levels 3, 4 and 5 of the Carter Reserve multi-deck car park, and the ground level car park underneath WaterMarc, will remain available as short term parking. The new mezzanine car park underneath WaterMarc will be restricted to Council vehicles during business hours, but will be available for public car parking outside of these times. This level will include two new accessible parking bays.

Additional off-street short term parking opportunities have also been identified in Howard Street and Stubley Court, which will provide additional parking for WaterMarc and the wider Greensborough Activity Centre. Further investigations of these additional off-street parking spaces are currently underway.