ADVOCATES for Geelong\u2019s status as a \u201csecond city\u201d have called on the federal government to create specific policy that reflects the importance of such cities across Australia.<\/p>\n
Representatives from the Committee for Geelong (CfG), the City of Greater Geelong, G21 and the Geelong Chamber of Commerce spoke at the public hearing for the Standing Committee on Infrastructure, Transport and Cities in Geelong on Monday.<\/p>\n
The committee is holding an inquiry into the Australian government\u2019s role in the development of cities, and is examining city planning and sustainable urban development, focusing on how to transition existing capital cities, and how to develop new and existing regional centres.<\/p>\n
The Geelong submitters called for the introduction of policy that crossed multiple government portfolios for \u201csecond cities\u201d as well as locking in a City Deal that included both Geelong and the Great Ocean Road.<\/p>\n
CfG chair Dan Simmonds said it was clear that population growth was putting big cities across Australia under pressure.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf people are voting with their feet to move somewhere (away from capital cities), there should be government policy that supports that.\u201d<\/p>\n
CfG chief executive officer Rebecca Casson said Geelong\u2019s status and growth needed to be recognised.<\/p>\n
\u201cGeelong is no longer a regional city; it hasn\u2019t been for years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not suggesting Geelong is better than anywhere else, but we\u2019ve already got that investment there, and the next group of cities down from that, or across from that, will benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n
G21 chair Bill Mithen said his organisation had been advocating strongly for a City Deal based on the visitor economy<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve also identified that it needs to prosper the whole region, so areas of disadvantage would need to be improved.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re looking at a City Deal very much like that: as a deal, it\u2019s an all-encompassing deal, a strategic deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not just about trying to get our hands on pots of money, it\u2019s about integrating it across the region, looking at where our competitive advantages are within the visitor economy and ensuring the whole region prospers.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ADVOCATES for Geelong\u2019s status as a \u201csecond city\u201d have called on the federal government to create specific policy that reflects the importance of such cities across Australia. Representatives from the Committee for Geelong (CfG), the City of Greater Geelong, G21 and the Geelong Chamber of Commerce spoke at the public hearing for the Standing Committee […]<\/p>\n