Photo Caption: Concept design of the Cardinia Motor Recreation and Education Park

The Key Lane site in Pakenham South has been embroiled in controversy, with the council dismissing a recent proposal for a major motorsports park amid allegations of misconduct and misrepresentation with multiple proponents, as claims emerge that their long-term goal is to sell most of the land under lucrative industrial zoning.
In Monday’s council meeting, Cardinia Shire Council authorised negotiations with the Kooweerup Motorcycle Club for a possible long-term lease at 335 McGregor Road, commonly known as Key Lane, as the club is finalising development plans.
However, behind the scenes, the council has been in heated correspondence with other parties regarding their decision within the same item to deem a proposal “inappropriate” that relates to the site’s original purpose, made two decades ago, of developing Key Lane as a major motorsports park.
Key Lane is split into three lots, with the motorcycle club and the Pakenham Auto Club using the junior lots 1 and 2.
The motorcycle club uses part of Lot 3 and has proposed plans to conduct works in their area of Key Lane. Lot 3, which makes up the majority of the 130-hectare site, has had four known proposals ever since the site was purchased by the council and rezoned in 2004 with the special-use as a future motorsports park.
The most recent, put forward last year by firm Strategic Policy Advice Victoria, was to develop lots 3 and 2 for a motocross park. This proposal was dismissed by the council at Monday’s meeting after risks were identified, including a lack of details on funding sources and a business case.
The proponent believes the council has the right to choose what to do with Key Lane, but claims they have been misrepresented in the recent discussion.
Attempts to proceed further in the proposal were stopped by the council due to an ongoing court case related to the site by a previous proponent.
A permit was made in November 2024 for initial earthworks for this development, but the proponent said the council responded by saying it was “inappropriate” due to an ongoing court matter.
The proponent contacted the council a month before the permit and a response, seen by the Gazette, shows a senior officer saying the council does “not wish to commence any negotiations” whilst legal proceedings remain ongoing.
The release of the council agenda last week prompted an exchange where the proponent believed their proposal had not been given fair treatment and the latest decision by the council to dismiss the proposal stands in contradiction to their previous statements, as the dispute with the other proponent remains ongoing.
In the motion report for the recent council meeting, the council states that the proponent “has not been prepared” to address the council’s concerns and the proponent disputed this.
In response, the council amended the agenda, rewriting the above statement to say “management’s concerns” with the proposal “remain.”
It did not exclude the following statement that deemed further investigation of the proposal “inappropriate.”
The proponent maintains that the amended report is misleading, that their proposal was not progressed due to risks, but due to an ongoing legal matter, and therefore not given an opportunity to detail their proposal further.
Clubs may get a long-term lease, but future needs to be decided
An alternative motion was moved by Deputy Mayor Pomeroy, putting lease negotiations with the motorcycle club on hold until a new investment committee approves such a move, with the exploration of alternative options for the site flagged.
It upheld the dismissal of the motocross proposal, and was backed by councillors for upholding the possibility of a decades-long lease for the club while investigations by a new investment advisory committee on the overall site are finalised.
“We really need to decide as a council what we are doing on lot 3 before we determine a lease for potentially 20 years or 30 years on lot 2,” Deputy Mayor Pomeroy said.
Mayor Kowarzik said it’s a “good thing” to work toward a long-term lease for the motorcycle club, but said the future of Key Lane will be about “balancing the fiscal needs” of the council.
“We aren’t rich like inner-city councils, we do not have the parking revenue that they have, we are a growth area council, so we have challenges in that space,” Mayor Kowarzik said.
“So coming up with alternative, creative ways to increase returns for this council is paramount to ensuring that we can eventually aim to reduce the rates burden on our community.”
Claims that a senior officer supports selling the land
Four proposals have been made for a motorsports park at Key Lane and all have failed; inside sources claim that a senior officer has previously proposed rezoning the site to industrial for the purpose of selling the land.
Two sources from individuals who had access to high-level discussions with the council both corroborate an account that a senior official referred to the motocross proposal as the “worst idea” and that they authorised a feasibility study to assess alternative uses other than motorsports.
It’s claimed that a briefing meeting was held in 2024, where this officer presented a proposal to initiate proceedings with the state government to rezone the land for industrial use.
The council says the feasibility study was commissioned to assess developments in partnership with the motorcycle and auto clubs.
It is said that Strategic Policy Advice Victoria had a meeting with the council in 2024, where it is claimed that most of the councillors of the previous term were in support of the motocross proposal and of granting them a lease.
It’s claimed by the proponent that the council could have received $200,000 a year in rent for the proposal, with millions generated in value if the motocross park was successful.
Dispute ongoing
The council is currently in dispute with a previous proponent who alleges they were deceptive in their conduct during the failed bid to construct a major racing circuit at Key Lane, years before Monday’s decision to dismiss another major proposal.
The closest lot 3 of Key Lane has ever gotten to a major development was the proposal for a V8 supercar-level track made in 2018.
Despite initiating a sale process, the proposal would only lead to the Supreme Court.
Sim racing company, Podium 1, proposed the former Cardinia Motor Recreation and Education Park at lot 3 of Key Lane, which involved developing a FIA Grade 2 circuit at the site.
In May 2018, the council and Podium 1 entered into a heads-of-agreement to sell the site for $3 million to facilitate the proposal.
A $300,000 deposit was transferred by Podium 1, and in 2020, the council approved a permit for Stage 1 of construction.
The council would rescind the sale of the land in 2021, with some accounts saying Podium 1 failed to procure sufficient funding for the project.
However, in 2024, Podium 1 initiated proceedings with the Supreme Court of Victoria, alleging the council had “misleading and deceptive” conduct with their proposal, seeking at least $300,000, equivalent to the deposit, in damages.
Alleged in Podium 1’s account, the council entered the heads-of-agreement without disclosing the full planning requirements, in particular, a development plan for Melbourne Water for all lots, not just lot 3.
The agreement held a clause that the council could rescind the sale of the land after 18 months of the transfer if the relevant planning provision was not met by Podium 1.
Had the requirements been known in full, Podium 1 claims it would not have entered into the heads-of-agreement.
The council says the plan was a known requirement during the process.
Podium 1 says it submitted the required development plan to the council and continued to take “further steps” for the project before the sale was rescinded.
The Supreme Court ordered mediation by a third party to settle the dispute, which remains ongoing.
The council was contacted for comment.
A formal decision on the motocross proposal and the future use of lot 3 will be made at a later date.