Regional shake up to accommodate population boom

The population of regional Australia will boom in the coming decades as the boundaries of major centres are redrawn in a bid to ease the housing crisis.

The Plan for Victoria blueprint reveals the outskirts of Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo will be among the first to be developed, with an additional 200,000 homes to be built over the next 30 years.

The document features 22 concrete actions, including carefully managing the outward sprawl of regional cities and towns to accommodate more homes.

Boundaries will expand if consistent with the vision for the areas, as long as councils and other authorities can provide essential infrastructure like water and sewerage to cope with more people.

Many small places won’t expand, the 92-page document says.

The details were revealed by Premier Jacinta Allan and Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny on Friday.

Melbourne’s defined boundary and others identified, or soon to be, on the Bellarine Peninsula, Bass and Surf coasts and Macedon Ranges, remain unchanged.

Ms Allan, who lives in Bendigo, said the plan would promote sustainable and even growth and protect agricultural land.

The dream of home ownership had been made impossible for many Millennials and working families, and the state had one chance to fix it, the premier said.

“We have to bust open the status quo,” she told reporters in Ballarat.

More than seven million people live in Victoria, the second highest population of any state or territory, but the Australian Bureau of Statistics forecasts a rise to 11.5 million by 2055.

To cope, the government estimates another 2.24 million homes will be needed across Melbourne and the regions.

Opposition leader Brad Battin questioned why the government “all of a sudden” wanted to kickstart decentralisation away from Melbourne and whether adequate roads and public transport would also be funded.

“We’ve seen them bring out a plan that has more pictures than actual words to actually try and say they’re going to make a difference when it comes to regional Victoria,” he said.

Labor has been on a housing announcement blitz after narrowly retaining the traditionally safe seat of Werribee in a by-election triggered by the retirement of treasurer Tim Pallas.

Policies have ranged from housing approval targets for all 79 councils across the state, a new townhouse code and revealing the final 25 of 60 Melbourne locations in line for increased housing density.

The entire City of Melbourne and Yarra local government areas were designated “activity centres” in a bid to build more than 300,000 homes in suburban areas close to train and tram links by 2051.

Under the controversial rezoning plan, building height limits will be increased to between three and 12 storeys in most centres and up to 20 storeys in the largest housing hubs.

By Callum Godde and Rachael Ward AAP