The rehabilitation of an inner Melbourne quarry on Norvel Road has taken another step after more information about its new housing development was revealed in Ferntree Gully.
Norvel Road Quarry is set to become Norvel Estate located between Norvel Road and Blind Creek valley in Ferntree Gully after spending decades as an operational quarry.
The former quarry was used as a clay extraction site for brick manufacturers for more than five decades. After being established in 1955, it was closed in 2009 as operations ceased.
The proposed development includes staged lots being produced for 138 residential lots alongside vegetation removal and other construction works.
The development would provide eight lots as affordable housing for lower-income Victorians and maintain a bushland reserve for conservation purposes.
Knox City Council is seeking public input as the development from Novel Estate is seeking to revitalise the area for residential use and housing development on the underutilised land in the popular area.
The site sits nearby to several tourist hotspots in the Dandenong Ranges including the Puffing Billy Railway, 1000 steps memorial walk and Waterford Valley Golf Course.
“One of the measures Council has in place to address the shortfall of social housing in Knox is negotiating a minimum five per cent contribution towards social housing from the development of strategic sites such as the disused quarry in Norvel Road,’ Cr Susan Laukens told the Ferntree Gully News.
“Rising rents in the private rental market, and an inadequate supply of social housing means many people on low to very low incomes, are struggling to find somewhere to live. Single mums and single women over 55 are most vulnerable to housing stress, and both cohorts are often impacted by family violence and relationship breakdown.”
Reports from 2016 speculated the quarry, which was filled in by Robertson Industries who controlled the land for more than three decades, sold to a developer for more than $30 million.
The plans come after the quarrying industry across the country has worked hard to revitalise former quarries to improve their amenity for local communities.
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