Local councils respond to Plan for Victoria

COUNCILS in the G21 region have responded to the state government’s Plan for Victoria initiative, and the City of Greater Geelong believes the municipality needs its own specific plan.

Announced earlier this year, Plan for Victoria is intended to be a blueprint that guides how Victoria grows and develops as a state from now until 2050.

This includes the draft housing targets revealed in June, which has earmarked 139,800 new dwellings to be constructed in the City of Greater Geelong,

The government invited councils and industry bodies to make submissions to Plan Victoria, and the city is among the municipalities to have done so. The city’s submission makes 35 recommendations, including the creation of a dedicated plan for Geelong within Plan Victoria.

“We want to be part of shaping the future for Victoria, as Greater Geelong gets bigger and brings with it a lot of exciting opportunities,” Geelong mayor Trent Sullivan said.

“It’s very important to us and our community that growth is planned and managed in a way that maintains what we all love about living here.”

“Council is planning for strong population growth over the next two decades, but this level of new housing would be a vast increase on the forecasts in our Settlement Strategy.

“We think Greater Geelong needs to be considered separately, not with the rest of regional Victoria, given its size, location, and strategic importance.

“We’ll need to see significant government investment in services and infrastructure for our region as our population grows.”

The Surf Coast Shire’s submission, endorsed by a majority of councillors in August, makes several suggestions, including:

• Recommending consideration of the contextual differences across Victoria, including matters such as car dependency and access to transport, employment opportunities, environmental protection and risk, and access to resources, such as water
• Recommending water security, environmental protection and risk, climate change, and climate change resilience are given visible consideration
• Providing in-principle support for the 7,800-house target for the shire, seeks a nuanced approach to infill targets and clarification on the application of both, and
• Highlights the need for legislative reform, including improved planning tools to enable councils to facilitate improved housing density, diversity, and sustainable design outcomes, and to appropriately fund supporting infrastructure.

A Borough of Queenscliffe spokesperson said the borough was collaborating with partnering regional councils through the G21 alliance to prepare a submission for Plan for Victoria, but this was not yet finalised.

The Victorian government is expected to release a draft version of Plan for Victoria later this year.