Some more good news from Techno Park: after more than two and half years living under the threat of eviction, the residents of two more blocks of units have regained the right to live securely in their homes.

Hobsons Bay City Council has formally recognised existing use rights for two more blocks of units in our street, acknowledging that the long-term residential use of these buildings makes it legal to live in them regardless of zoning.

Working together, residents across the street collected more than 200 pieces of evidence for these two applications, including statutory declarations by past and current residents and their friends and neighbours, photos of their homes, home loans, phone bills, pet registrations, real estate listings advertising bedrooms and kitchens, and voter enrolments going back to the 1990s.

Our applications for the final two blocks are ready to go, and we’re hoping to submit them shortly.

This same week, Mobil has started demolition of the South Crude Tank Farm—our neighbours since 1953. 

The tanks were already empty in 2023, when our then-Mayor defended Council’s attempt to evict nearly a hundred people from our homes at Techno Park by warning ABC Radio of a potential “incident” at the disused site next door: “being in the “blast zone” it is likely that there would be loss of life or serious injury if anything were to happen.”

The greatest threat to residents’ safety was always Council’s efforts to remove us from our homes. Two years on, the empty tanks are coming down.

We're still here. 

Thank you for your ongoing support!