Many have been paid just $500 as compensation; some blocks were acquired compulsorily because owners could not be contacted and there are plans to take back 3000 more next year for nil compensation. Loading But Wellington Shire still sends rates notices to those who have hung onto the supposedly worthless land. Now the council plans to sell some of the acquired land “at or above the current market value on the open market”. In total the blocks are likely to bring in about a seven-figure sum, and whoever buys one will have the right to build on it.

Maureen Verga, whose husband Charles bought one of the blocks in the 1960s, said that at one stage in the 1990s, they were offered just $20 to hand back the land that he had bought for £200. She said that she contacted the Ombudsman at the time and was told to “hang onto it” because eventually someone would make a profit from the land. “Isn’t that wicked,” she said of the council’s plans to sell the land for a significant profit. “It’s immoral … It’s unbusinesslike and they’re lining their own pockets... It causes us a lot of worry.” Maureen and Charles Verga. At a meeting last month, councillors approved preliminary plans to sell four parcels of land – in effect 16 blocks, each of the parcels being made up of four adjoining blocks according to the original subdivision – in Golden Beach.

Three of the so-called “restructure” blocks are on the beachfront on Shoreline Drive and the fourth is just metres away. In some stretches along the beach, landowners were able to build provided they had bought four adjoining lots and the parcels the council has earmarked for sale can be developed, a spokeswoman confirmed. The blocks in question were acquired by the council at least 15 years ago, in one of the numerous schemes to buy back the land. Some of the promotional material for Golden Beach and surrounds, once touted as Victoria's Surfers Paradise. Credit:Jason South The council repeatedly refused to say how much it had paid for the blocks, citing confidentiality, or when they were acquired, other than to say it was before 2003.

The council also declined to nominate an expected sale price for the parcels of land, with a spokeswoman saying: “For the purposes of the council considering the sale of the surplus land, current market valuations have been obtained and are contained within the confidential attachment of the Council Report.” The statement went on to say that there are other blocks on the market in that area that “would provide a range of values”. Real estate agent Tracey Wrigglesworth from Elders in nearby Sale said she had recently sold two single blocks along Shoreline Drive, Golden Beach, for $95,000 and $120,000. No amalgamated parcels appear to be for sale at the moment. Another single block on the same stretch is for sale for $89,000.

Vassily Afcouliotis has been engaged in a long battle with the council. He owns two adjoining blocks on Shoreline Drive at nearby Glomar Beach but is not even allowed onto his own land to mow the grass, he says, let alone build. “I think it’s unfair for the council to take back land and then to put it up for sale,” he said. “They’ve rezoned the area so many times that it’s confused people … They’re stopping everybody [from accessing their land], I’m telling you now. They’re really shifty ... for sure devious.” He said the council had an obligation to use any acquired land for public purposes. Vassily Afcouliotis, pictured earlier this year. Credit:Jason South “They can’t take land off people and sell it to do whatever they want," he said.

"They have been changing bylaws to do whatever they want.” Asked specifically and repeatedly under what laws the council kept the sale price of the blocks secret, a spokeswoman for the council declined to answer and referred to a range of statutes and rules – and that includes internal guidelines set by the council itself. “Everything they have done they have done because they’re trying to cheat their way through,” Mr Afcouliotis said. The many attractions of the area were pushed on buyers, with flyers such as this one. Credit:Jason South The council has established a committee to look into the sale of the blocks. It will take written submissions and hold a public hearing on August 21 before finalising plans to proceed with the sales.

Gabrielle Costa’s grandfather bought a block in Paradise Beach. She has no financial interest in it.