Super suburbs on the plan

BENDIGO’S residential Strategy will be reviewed because of greater than expected growth.

The State Government has announced a grant of $50,000 to carry out the review.

The review is needed because, according to the State Government, 40 per cent of the forecast growth between 2006 and 2031 had already been realised.

Regional Development Parliamentary Secretary Damian Drum made the announcement this morning.

Mr Drum said the Bendigo Residential Strategy Review would deliver greater community and investor certainty, helping the region grow.

“The Bendigo Residential Development Strategy was adopted in 2004 and is currently being audited because of the faster than anticipated growth that has occurred in Bendigo in recent years,” he said.

“Strong residential growth has many flow-on economic benefits and having a clear framework for future development will position Greater Bendigo City Council to undertake more detailed, place-based planning in the future.”

Deputy Premier Peter Ryan said about 40 per cent of the forecast growth between 2006 and 2031 had already been realised.

The Residential Strategy impacts directly on where and how property developments use “infill” parcels of land, range of housing styles and also on housing affordability.

“This project will review the strategy, assess current and estimated land supply and demand and consider various legislative and policy changes,” Mr Ryan said,

“It will also consider the latest demographic data and establish a new strategic framework to guide the long-term residential growth of Greater Bendigo.

“The project will result in a revised residential strategy that will give developers, the community and service providers greater surety and confidence about where land can be developed for residential purposes, and that sufficient land is available to accommodate the City of Greater Bendigo’s future growth.”

Mr Ryan said a contemporary strategic planning framework was essential to the economic development of a large regional centre like Bendigo.

“Clearly identifying future growth options and supporting infrastructure needs will enable the Greater Bendigo City Council and other infrastructure providers to plan their capital works programs well in advance,” he said.

“Identifying long-term growth areas will enable the council and other service authorities to start planning for the delivery of services, thereby minimising the lag time between when residential development occurs and when the services need to be in place.”

Bendigo Weekly | Bendigo Weekly | 17-Feb-2012

A RESPECTED engineer and former VicRoads boss has urged the City of Greater Bendigo council to create three super suburbs to ease the city’s residential land crisis.
Last week, local developer Don Erskine suggested historic Ravenswood Run, at more than 1000 hectares, was perfect for a greenfields suburb.
That came after council revealed it had to review its 2004 Residential Strategy because population and housing growth was greater than expected.
Trevor Phillips, who has worked with the Department of Transport and on large Melbourne growth projects, has backed the Ravenswood plan, and called for it to be expanded.
He said Bendigo needed at least three large suburbs long term.
“The concept of a greenfields development has great merit,” he said.
“In my view there is urgent need to identify and plan at least three such brand-new communities on the perimeter of Bendigo – one centered on Ravenswood, the second based around Lockwood and the third at Marong .
“Each new community would have the minimum potential of 16,000 residents with appropriate infrastructure providing residential, retail, commercial, employment, community and academic facilities to service the local demand.
“Each of these three new suburbs is conceptually the size of Horsham or Echuca/Moama to convey the scale of what is being considered in growing Bendigo from 100,000 to 160,000 in total population.”
Mr Phillips said current planning priorities were short-sighted.
“What is apparent is the lack of vision and planning for such a contingency at both local and state level and the mire of planning regulations and conditions that once land is appropriately zoned frustrate and negate the economic development of such land,” he said.
“A recent example of this is the Aspinell Street subdivision where trees became more important than homes.
“The concept of the City within the Forest has come back to bite everyone who wants to build with the imposition of punitive additional costs to fire proof their house.
“The strategy should be changed to get the residential areas out of the so-called forest so normal standards apply.”
Mr Phillips said the push to Epsom and Huntly would cause more problems than it solved.
“The current policy of pushing the majority of the residential development to the Epsom/Huntly corridor is only adding to the existing concern of the volume of traffic along the only corridor through the CBD to service that demand,” he said.
“In-fill development will be a long time coming unless there are either positive incentives, or disincentives such as rate schemes to encourage owners to develop the land.”
“It is time to think outside the square and to think of a Greater Bendigo, not living in a museum or forest and emphasising what you cannot do,” he said.
“The challenge of planning a future is to provide the answers to and to facilitate the task that has been set, not to put obstacles and hurdles in the way of those who have an equal or greater stake in that future.”