Govt Flags Key Suburbs for Thousands More Melbourne Homes

Up to 60,000 new homes are to be built across key Melbourne suburbs in a program launched by the Victorian government.

The Victorian Planning Authority (VPA) has released four tender documents identifying 10 so-called “key activity centres” where the government will concentrate the new home build.

Those suburbs are Broadmeadows, Camberwell Junction, Chadstone, Epping, Frankston, Moorabbin, Niddrie (Keilor Road), North Essendon, Preston (High Street) and Ringwood.

The government hopes to expand those housing development plans to 120 locations across greater Melbourne.

The tender documents call for consultants in transport infrastructure, environmental and land-use planning, urban design, architecture and engineering, as well as community relations and engagement.

Victoria's Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny confirmed the plan on Tuesday, saying the 60,000 new homes were part of the government’s housing statement initiative, announced in September.

The government of then-premier Daniel Andrews said it would build 800,000 homes over the next decade in a plan designed to alleviate a housing crisis in a state tipped to have a population of more than 10 million by 2051.

“These [suburbs] have been selected because of their strategic significance and their potential to deliver more homes in areas that are already well-serviced by transport, by services, that are well connected,” Kilkenny said.

▲ The plan is part of the government’s housing statement initiative, which hopes to see 800,000 new homes over the next decade.

“The VPA will be working with the Department of Transport and Planning to introduce planning controls that are going to deliver more homes in those activity centres,” she told reporters.

The minister said those planning controls would be introduced by the end of next year.

The tender documents say urban design plans should “consider scalability, with the immediate goal of applying the process to the initial 10 activity centres, and a long-term vision of expanding to all 120 activity centres across Melbourne”.

“The planning for these activity centres will also guide the investment of community infrastructure,” the documents said. 

“The purpose of this EoI is to seek expertise and capability to produce a community infrastructure needs assessment to support this project.”

Kilkenny’s confirmation of the plan’s launch came as she and premier Jacinta Allan appeared at RMIT University in Melbourne to announce a scheme to hire 90 additional planners for her department.

“A key part of the [government’s] reform agenda is looking at how we can make good decisions faster to get more homes built right across Victoria,” Premier Allan said.

“And of course, to achieve that, we need to employ more planners.”

Victoria’s planning process has long been criticised by the industry, not just for the shortage of qualified planners, but also the varying levels of expertise within local government, the pace of the rezoning process, and questions over which authorities have what powers.