Geelong residents are pushing the Council to fine the owners of the derelict buildings, which were to become part of the 136-unit Seachange Village, under a new Neighbourhood Amenity Local Law.

The law hands out $2,000-a-month penalties for property owners who don’t fix or sell dilapidated buildings. The owners of a local hotel The Ritz were recently hit with $17,000 in fines for failing to comply with the new standards.

The rundown retirement village on Bonnyvale Rd has sat empty for a decade and locals told the Geelong Advertiser the site is a haven for vandals.

The village also has an interesting history. It was previously been linked to high-profile lawyer Michael Brereton who was banned from practising law for five years in 2008 over the misappropriation of $2.3 million of investors’ funding on the Ocean Grove retirement village project.

He was then refunded $1M by the ATO after the failure of an investigation into his dealings as part of its Operation Wickenby tax fraud investigation

Image credit: Geelong Advertiser.