State’s Silence on Fishermans Bend Puts Council Offside

The City of Port Phillip says the Victorian planning department is snubbing it over Fishermans Bend.

The council has told the community the state department has repeatedly not responded to requests for meetings and consultation over developments in the sector.

It is now asking for support for a campaign to get the state government to open up lines of communication over the development hotspot.

Fishermans Bend has five precincts across two local government areas—the City of Melbourne and the City of Port Phillip. 

With current zoning conditions in place, it has become an attractive spot for development as a key part of the city fringe. 

Australia’s largest urban renewal project of 480ha, by 2050 it is expected to be home to 80,000 people and with employment for up to 80,000. 

Planning and development for the area is handled by the Fishermans Bend Development Board with support from the state planning department’s Fishermans Bend Taskforce. 

The department’s website said that $15 million has been invested to push planning forward for long-term transport links with another $179.4 million already invested to develop the former General Motors Holden site into an innovation hub. 

A masterplan, the Fishermans Bend Framework 2018, was created through collaboration among the City of Port Phillip, the Victorian government, community, key developers and other stakeholders.

It was meant to deliver open space, transport and infrastructure but council states that neither the open space nor infrastructure projects including Light Rail, Metro Rail and the Fishermans Bend community hospital have been delivered. 

“Despite the framework being released five years ago, there has been minimal progress achieved on any of the key initiatives,” City of Port Phillip’s acting mayor Andrew Bond said.

“Any planned changes to the framework should involve consultation with the same partners who developed it.

“This is crucial as there are limited opportunities to provide open space in Fishermans Bend due to a scarcity of suitable land and North Port Oval is already bursting at the seams.”

Both Bond and Port Phillip mayor Heather Consulo said that much of the promised infrastructure is needed now as more people move into the area.

A spokesperson for the Victorian government said there were plans to continue engaging with the council and other stakeholders.

“As Australia’s largest urban renewal precinct, Fishermans Bend is targeted to accommodate 80,000 residents, 80,000 jobs and deliver 37,000 homes by 2050 and we’re working with the community and industry to activate the precinct,” the spokesperson said.

“We will be opening a new primary school in Fishermans Bend in 2026 - building on our existing investments to deliver great local services for the growing population in the Fishermans Bend precinct.

“We are continuing to work closely with stakeholders including the City of Port Phillip as we refine plans for Fishermans Bend, including infrastructure, to ensure we can meet the needs of the community for decades to come.”

Commitments to open space and community hub infrastructure were to be achieved by 2025. 

The Victorian planning department did not respond to The Urban Developer’s question on the issue of it failing to respond to the council requests.

Recent development in the area includes a planning scheme amendment being approved to allow FR Investments Group’s tower project on Ingles Street to go ahead.