In summary

  • Swinburne is in exclusive discussions with City of Stonnington Council to purchase the site of WCCC
  • To facilitate this, Swinburne sought, and has received, the approval of the Victorian Minister for Finance to sell the land for less than market valuation
  • Swinburne hopes to receive a binding offer from Council soon to proceed

Swinburne has written to key stakeholders, providing an update on the status of the Windsor Community Children’s Centre.

Swinburne no longer has a presence in the City of Stonnington, and owns one remaining parcel of land at the site of WCCC. The formal process to divest from this land began in 2023.

Swinburne is currently in exclusive discussions with Stonnington, with the aim for Stonnington to purchase the land from Swinburne. Swinburne’s objective during this process is to secure the best interests of the community, including the future of WCCC, and Swinburne being able to reinvest in higher education across our three Melbourne campuses in Hawthorn, Croydon and Wantirna.

We continue to work in good faith with all parties through this process.

Last year, Stonnington made a non-binding offer to Swinburne for the land. The offer was less than the market valuation of the land. It was supported by a funding commitment from the Federal Government.

Earlier this month, Swinburne met with Stonnington to discuss the non-binding offer and seek to resolve some outstanding issues. It is our desire to be able resolve these so that Stonnington can provide the University with a binding non-conditional offer.

To facilitate this process, Swinburne sought, and has received, the approval of the Victorian Minister for Finance to sell the land for less than the market valuation. This is a requirement under State legislation.

Additional government approvals are required, and we are working through those processes.

We hope to be able to receive a binding, non-conditional offer from Stonnington soon so that we can proceed with the sale. The sooner this is completed the more certainty that parents, staff and the community will have for the future of WCCC.

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