Scores of would-be owners have been left in the lurch after learning the properties they have been waiting five years for will never be built.<\/p>\n
Property developer Wel.Co has pulled the plug on two key phases of a major housing development in Gawler East, north of Adelaide.<\/p>\n
The decision comes with the firm locked in a bitter row with local authorities over changes to works on a road neighbouring the Springwood estate project.<\/p>\n
But it has left 101 potential buyers in limbo after the firm tore their sale contracts up and scrapped two phases of the scene.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Wel.Co said \u201crevised planning and infrastructure requirements\u201d had meant the project masterplan would require \u201csignificant redesign\u201d.<\/p>\n
The collapse is reportedly linked to changes to plans for works on nearby Cheek Ave.<\/p>\n
\u201cWel.co is currently communicating with a number of purchasers at Springwood following revised planning and infrastructure requirements associated with the Concordia growth area,\u201d a spokesman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese updated requirements have materially affected portions of the project masterplan and require significant redesign and infrastructure co-ordination.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile this is not the outcome Wel.Co anticipated, Wel.Co acknowledges this news will be disappointing for affected purchasers and is communicating directly with those impacted regarding next steps.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpringwood remains an important long-term community projects and other stages continue to progress as planned.\u201d<\/p>\n
The firm confirmed 101 sales contracts had been terminated, although only 50 allotments had been directly impacted by the road. Of these, 75 were retail lots and 26 were reserved for builders.<\/p>\n
Among those to lose out on their promised property was Tamika Townsend and her partner Daniel, who told 7News her \u201cdreams have been taken away\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve lost hope of being homeowners,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are devastated to know that, in the future, Well.Co might have the option of selling the block for double the price.\u201d<\/p>\n
The matter has sparked a bitter dispute between the developer and local authorities, with both the South Australian government and Gawler Council saying the company never indicated changes to Cheek Ave would impact the estate.<\/p>\n
South Australian Housing Minister Nick Champion urged people affected by the decision to seek legal advice.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe state government will not allow a developer\u2019s commercial decision to be recast as a failure of government process,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople bought homes. Those are not abstract planning outcomes, they are people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cWel.co has a direct responsibility to the purchasers whose contracts it has cancelled and to give them a truthful account of why.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a statement published to its website, Gawler Council said the decision had left potential buyers \u201cangry and upset\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe news will be deeply disappointing for many individuals and families who believed they were taking the next steps towards building their future in Gawler,\u201d Mayor Nathan Shanks said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile council acknowledges that development projects can face challenges and changing infrastructure requirements, we are extremely concerned by the outcome for affected purchasers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are people who entered into contracts in good faith and will now see uncertainty as a result of this decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Springwood development, Wel.Co\u2019s first South Australian site, was originally announced in 2021 and promised to deliver 2000 new homes to the growing town, which is about 55km north of Adelaide.<\/p>\n
In a further statement, the firm said: \u201cWel.Co is continuing discussions with the Town of Gawler regarding planning matters associated with stages 8 and 9 of Springwood.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs those discussions remain ongoing, it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scores of would-be owners have been left in the lurch after learning the properties they have been waiting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55306,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[52579,52619,52624,43707,36833,52575,52555,52572,52581,52563,38951,37016,24596,44582,52592,52621,52615,52552,52556,52613,52553,37330,36958,52548,40881,37726,52604,52560,52599,52601,52569,52593,52614,22,21,52606,19443,16455,52570,52554,26267,3352,12819,52549,38281,6769,52611,34516,36810,52559,52616,52612,13711,24261,41790,52566,38310,52558,52617,39337,43367,52609,51936,52582,38047,52596,52550,52565,379,52568,52584,52561,7350,33714,52562,50350,6154,52595,52608,52620,52600,5067,52564,52622,52557,52580,52623,52594,45946,36759,52583,38199,48207,52586,38458,38131,52587,52605,37516,38437,44661,52590,37925,52610,52576,52573,52589,52571,43131,52551,52585,52577,52578,40686,36993,42336,52588,52607,52618,38749,47347,37452,52597,52591,52567,41388,51176,52574,52603,27453,52602,52598],"class_list":["post-55305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-the-collapse","tag-s-commercial-decision","tag-s-first-south-australian-site","tag-s-lives","tag-36833","tag-101-contracts","tag-101-home-contracts","tag-101-potential-buyers","tag-101-sales-contracts","tag-2000-new-homes","tag-38951","tag-37016","tag-7news","tag-a-failure","tag-a-bitter-dispute","tag-a-bitter-row","tag-a-developer","tag-a-direct-responsibility","tag-a-further-statement","tag-a-major-housing-development","tag-a-new","tag-a-number","tag-a-result","tag-a-road","tag-a-spokesman","tag-a-statement","tag-a-truthful-account","tag-about-55km","tag-abstract-planning-outcomes","tag-adelaide-in","tag-adelaide-the-decision","tag-affected-purchasers","tag-an-important-long-term-community-projects","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-builders-among","tag-buyers","tag-challenges","tag-cheek-ave","tag-continuing-discussions","tag-contracts","tag-council","tag-development-projects","tag-double-the-price","tag-five-years","tag-gawler","tag-gawler-council","tag-gawler-east","tag-good-faith","tag-government-process","tag-her-dreams","tag-her-partner-daniel","tag-homeowners","tag-homes","tag-hope","tag-infrastructure-requirements","tag-its-website","tag-key-development-phase","tag-key-phases","tag-legal-advice","tag-limbo","tag-local-authorities","tag-lost","tag-many-individuals-and-families","tag-matters","tag-mayor-nathan-shanks","tag-more-than-100-contracts","tag-nearby-cheek-ave","tag-newswire-news","tag-next-steps","tag-only-50-allotments","tag-other-stages","tag-people","tag-plans","tag-portions","tag-potential-buyers","tag-project","tag-property-developer-wel-co","tag-purchasers","tag-retail-lots","tag-revised-planning-and-infrastructure-requirements","tag-scores","tag-scraps","tag-significant-redesign-and-infrastructure-co-ordination","tag-significant-redesign","tag-springwood","tag-stages-8-and-9","tag-tamika-townsend","tag-the-block","tag-the-company","tag-the-concordia-growth-area","tag-the-decision","tag-the-developer","tag-the-estate-south-australian-housing-minister-nick-champion","tag-the-firm","tag-the-future","tag-the-growing-town","tag-the-lurch","tag-the-matter","tag-the-news","tag-the-next-steps","tag-the-option","tag-the-outcome","tag-the-outcome-wel-co","tag-the-plug","tag-the-project-masterplan","tag-the-properties","tag-the-purchasers","tag-the-road","tag-the-scene-in","tag-the-south-australian-government","tag-the-springwood-development","tag-the-springwood-estate-project-but","tag-the-state-government","tag-the-town","tag-their-future","tag-their-promised-property","tag-their-sale-contracts","tag-these-updated-requirements","tag-this-decision","tag-this-news","tag-this-time","tag-those-discussions","tag-two-key-phases","tag-two-phases","tag-uncertainty","tag-wel-co","tag-well-co","tag-whose-contracts","tag-works","tag-would-be-homeowners","tag-would-be-owners"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55305\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}