By Chancy Quan
For some Techno Park residents in Williamstown, more than two years of living in fear of being evicted from their homes has finally come to an end. In June, Hobsons Bay City Council announced that Block 11 in Techno Park had established “existing use rights”, meaning those residents can legally live on land zoned industrial due to the long-term use of the units as homes.
The decision has given residents hope, but their fight is not over – two of the remaining blocks are awaiting the outcome of their applications lodged with the council in August, and the final two must lodge by 16 January 2026.
“This is a great outcome for those living in this section of Techno Park,” Mayor of Hobsons Bay, Cr Daria Kellander, says. “I’m really pleased that they now have more certainty over their future. We will continue to work with the rest of the residents within Techno Park to resolve this issue.”
Two years ago, residents of Techno Park Drive received eviction notices from Hobsons Bay City Council, citing safety concerns over its proximity to Mobil fuel storage tanks.
But for some, this site has been home for decades. From 1951 into the 1980s, it served as a post–World War II hostel for migrants and refugees.
The eviction notices sparked backlash and a sustained grassroots campaign from residents.
Last year, ABC News reported that internal documents released under FOI show Council had known Techno Park homes were entitled to existing use rights, and acted deliberately to attempt to “extinguish” those rights and force a mass eviction.
In February 2024, the state government amended planning laws so that council cannot extinguish existing use rights once they have accrued. The change enables residents whose homes have been continuously residential for more than 15 years to seek a certificate of compliance from the council, which would allow them to remain legally despite the industrial zoning.
How to prove existing rights?
Securing existing use rights for Techno Park demands years of records and personal proof, so Planning & Property Partners has provided a pro bono basis to Techno Park residents, assisting them to navigate this complex area of planning law and establishing existing use rights.
The firm’s Director Legal, Scott Edwards, says: “There are a number of examples of existing use rights being recognised in municipalities across Victoria. Techno Park Estate is notable due to the large number of residents affected and the complexity of compiling the evidence required to support 15 years of use.”
Techno Park comprises 88 properties, with up to 100 people facing the prospect of displacement.
That complexity is something residents know all too well. Lara Week, a spokesperson for the Save Techno Park campaign, points out that securing existing use rights is a huge amount of work because they don’t know how much evidence the council will consider sufficient.
“We’ve just been collecting as much evidence as we can,” Ms Week says. “For block 11, we gathered more than 115 pieces of evidence.”
That evidence includes statutory declarations, personal photos, bills and private letters. “We even went to the library and went through the electoral rolls line by line for Techno Park addresses, copying the relevant pages,” she adds.
They also lodged a freedom of information request with Hobsons Bay Council for pet registration records, but Ms Week criticised the council for redacting the addresses, making it impossible to see which blocks the registrations are for.
“These [pet registration] records show the council has had lots of evidence for existing use rights at Techno Park,” Ms Week says.
As for such criticism, Hobsons Bay Council explains it is not permitted to unilaterally issue a certificate or rely on its own historic records to make a decision. An application needs to be made to the Council, which will assess and determine any application impartially and with transparency, in accordance with state and local laws and obligations.
Hobsons Bay City Council also has no plans to rezone Techno Park for residential use. In a letter dated 7 April 2025, the Department of Transport and Planning advised the council that “rezoning this area is not appropriate while the major hazard facility remains in operation.”
Mobil however, has stated it no longer uses the tanks and plans to dismantle them by the end of the year.
Ms Week says: “The greatest threat to residents’ safety has always been eviction, harassment and displacement. So, housing security makes people safer.”
The Foundation Professor of Urban Planning & Design at Monash University, Carl Grodach, believes that given the industrial land shortage, rising business costs, and potential health risks, rezoning industrial land for residential purposes is not a straightforward solution for the housing crisis.
“First, rezoning existing industrial land doesn’t actually add new housing supply, because industrial land is already scarce compared with residential. Second, it can push out enterprises that rely on it or increase their costs,” Professor Grodach says.
“Even for underutilised sites, retrofitting to support industrial development would make more sense. […] What you really need to be careful with is that there aren’t going to be negative health effects from surrounding industry on the residential areas, or nuisances like noise,” he adds.
Professor Grodach also highlights that, due to the vast differences between real estate markets, it’s not appropriate to simply compare former industrial zones in inner suburbs like Collingwood or Abbotsford with areas such as Hobsons Bay or Techno Park.
“You have to carefully consider the location: is there public transport, local amenities, and community infrastructure for the new residential area? Unfortunately, industrial zones often don’t, so rezoning and redevelopment can be costly.”
Living, selling and renovating under existing use rights
Once someone has established that their property has existing use rights a certificate of compliance is granted. Hobsons Bay City Council told The Westsider that a certificate of compliance for residential use is required for people to live permanently at Techno Park, and there are no expiry dates on the certificate.
The lawyer for Techno Park residents, Mr Edwards says residents will then have similar rights that others do. “Planning schemes in Victoria include exemptions for repairs & routine maintenance and for internal rearrangement of a property provided the floor area does not increase. The residents are entitled to these exemptions in the same way anyone in Victoria is.”
“Existing use rights attach to the land rather than the owner, so there is no planning law impediment to an owner selling land that has existing use rights. The subsequent owner can also enjoy those rights,” he adds.
However, from a buyer’s perspective, it’s also important to investigate potential ramifications.
Councils across the West respond to housing on industrial land
There are leads suggesting the Techno Park case is not isolated, with many people living on industrial land across Melbourne’s west, raising questions about affordable housing availability.
To verify this, The Westsider contacted neighbouring councils.
City of Maribyrnong Mayor Cr Pradeep Tiwari acknowledges that some homes exist on land now zoned industrial, describing it as “part of our industrial legacy.” However, he also states the council is not currently aware of any verified instances of people residing in industrial zones. He added the council is preparing a new Housing Strategy to improve affordability and availability in the municipality.
The City of Melton gave a similar response, saying it was not aware of any such cases.
Brimbank City Council’s Director of City Futures, Kelvin Walsh, says there are currently no applications with Brimbank Council for Certificates of Compliance in industrial or commercial areas. Additionally, he notes Brimbank has sufficient capacity to meet forecast housing needs and is focused on aligning infrastructure investment with development.
A Wyndham City spokesperson says: “Wyndham City Council meets all of its obligations under the Planning and Environment Act and as part of that, considers and assesses any applications for rezoning or existing use rights.”
Chancy Quan is a journalism graduate from the University of Melbourne
The proof of continuous occupation is SO onerous! Council could simply allow all existing residents the right to remain – least they can after falsely evicting vulnerable people.