The Bulleen Drive In Site: 49 Greenaway Street, Bulleen

Dear Members,

The GCM owns the old Bulleen Drive In site at 49 Greenaway Street Bulleen and has been working for some time to get it rezoned to allow the Community to tap into its potential.

I write to inform you of the Minister for Planning Richard Wynne’s recent decision to refer our site at 49 Greenaway Street Bulleen to yet another Panel hearing at a yet to be determined date with yet to be detailed terms of reference.

This is an extremely bitter disappointment and comes on the back of the Minister and leading Government officials having promised to consider the site’s rezoning application following our community’s overwhelming 94% vote in favour at the AGM in February of 2017.

Our disappointment is compounded by the fact that we thought we had secured bi-partisan support for our plan when, at the February 2018 Lonsdale Street Festival in front of 50,000 people attending on the night, the Leader of the State Opposition Matthew Guy promised to rezone Bulleen as one of his first actions if the Coalition were elected in November.

The decision to refer the site to yet another Panel (I say “yet another Panel” as the site has already had two Panels report on it including most recently the Panel chaired by Helen Gibson, one of Victoria’s leading planners) was made despite meetings with the Minister in February and then again April where our case was tabled and the notion of the land being referred to yet another Panel was clearly dismissed by him.

At these meetings, the Minister and his team undertook to consider the site on its own merits and not refer it to a Panel subject to the receipt of specific reports and drawings. We furnished the requested information at significant expense to the Community but always with the clear understanding that the Minister and other leading Government officials were supporting our request.

Our reports and drawings were submitted and seemingly ignored.

The Community needs to rezone the land to ensure its financial future with the sale of approximately 1/4 of the rezoned site for 17 million dollars. This sale could proceed tomorrow but for the Minister’s actions.

So the matter calls for some immediate action and as such we call on you to assist us to let this Government know that the re-zoning of the Bulleen site is critical to the Greek Community and that the current position taken by Minister Wynne must be rectified.

As such we would like you to contact a Government MP – call, email or walk into their electorate offices over the next few days.

Tell them:

• The Old Bulleen Drive In Site is Important to the Greeks of Melbourne
• The site has a plan that is being held up by Government
• The site is important for not just the Greek Community but for all the local community
• The site can be rezoned and remain protected

Please find attached contact lists for your local Labour MPs.
If you have any questions please direct them to our Head Office at info@greekcommunity.com.au or 96622722.

Yours sincerely,


Jorge Menidis
Greek Centre Director
Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne and Victoria