By Laura Michell
Up to 4000 jobs will be created in Epping as part of a new logistics park planned for Vearings Road.
A development plan for the O’Herns Logistics Park was endorsed by Whittlesea council’s administrators during a council meeting on Monday, February 21.
The plan proposes to develop the 252-hectare site for employment purposes with a focus on large-scale logistics and warehousing.
According to the development plan, about 142 hectares of the site at 25 Vearings Road will be developed for employment purposes, with the remaining 110 hectares to become a public conservation reserve.
The site is bounded by O’Herns Road to the south, Vearings Road to the east, Harvest Home Road and the Yarra Valley Water Aurora Treatment Facility to the north and the Craigieburn Grasslands to the west.
It can be accessed by O’Herns Road, which will be upgraded by the developer, Sandhurst Retail & Logistics, according to report tabled at the council meeting.
The development plan proposes to retain scatter River Red Gums on the site and a number of dry stone walls, which is significant to the area.
Administrator Chris Eddy labelled the logistics park as a “really significant development”.
“It is not lost on me that potentially 4000 jobs could be created from this development,” he said.
“We are talking about what, 140 hectares if industrial land, [it] just gives you a sense of the scope of what’s happening in the City of Whittlesea, and I think it will be really exciting to see how this develops going forward.”
Administrator Peita Duncan also lauded the proposal.
“I think this is a fantastic development that we are bringing to our municipality,” she said.
“I look forward to seeing what logistics companies will be in the precinct when we have built this development.”
Chair administrator Lydia Wilson welcomed the protection of 110 hectares of the site in the conservation area, noting it was “nearly half the site”.
Ms Wilson said the development was significant as there was a shortage of industrial land in the municipality.
