Opinion Piece - Victoria - Our People and Our Places

‘VICTORIA – OUR PEOPLE AND OUR PLACES.’

Victorian Planning and Environmental Law Association (VPELA) Revue, Autumn Edition, 2024.

27 March 2024.

JAMES NEWBURY

Our great State is made up of interconnected cities and communities. Our communities are a patchwork of interwoven suburbs and townships. In many ways, our interconnected communities are as diverse as the melting pot of people that live within them.

It is often said that one of the greatest strengths of our nation has been the diversity of our people. And it is. But so too are our places, the shapes and designs of the communities we have built around us. The richness of our cultural mix is not just in our people, but it is also in our buildings and our architecture.

Victoria is a mix of bluestone, ornate brick work, and cast iron in the City streets. The contrast between the laconic weatherboard Californian bungalows in Bayside and the Art Deco in Brunswick. And never forget the impact of the goldrush in shaping so many townships across the State.

Yes, one of our great strengths is that our differences are unique – both in our people and our places. And that uniqueness must be protected.

Our city is growing fast. We are at a turning point as a State. A point where the two major political parties have diametrically opposed views on how we handle population growth and shape our future.

On the one hand, we have a State Labor Government who intends to grow Melbourne’s population to the size of London by 2050; increasing our population from five million to well over eight million people. Almost doubling it over the next twenty-five years.

That growth shouldn’t lead to the community being taken away from the centre of our planning decisions. Or that we trash the character of the places that we have built, to ram in hurried growth. But that’s what the Government has planned. Central planning and cookie cutter development, where the community has their rights taken away.

We can see it already. Over Christmas, third party rights were taken away from the 150,000 people that live within two kilometres of suburban rail loop stations. Those rights have also been taken away near public housing sites, designated growth and economic zones, and school and childcare locations.

How did we get to a situation where the community no longer has a rightful say over the future of their own streets? Isn’t that not only a core part of fostering community, but also the one of the key tenants of a democracy?

We have seen further frenetic policy with the Government’s Housing Statement and their promise to build 80,000 homes a year, over the next ten years. The minute after the announcement, you could feel the entire industry knowingly sigh in agreement that the target will never be achieved. It is a con. A craven con that preys on the dreams of those who aspire to own their own home.

There is an incredible amount of goodwill from industry who want to build the homes we need. Industry knows that they can lead housing growth, if government gets out of their way.

The Coalition, on the other hand, want to make sure we have the homes we need, let industry do what they do best, and protect what is best about our State. We want to grow the whole State because we believe in a State of cities. That means making sure that we respect character and ensure that new communities stop being starved of basic infrastructure.

It also means understanding that policy should be interconnected, and that Government should work in partnership with industry, not through dictate and tax shakedowns. We must stop the repeated surprise tax grabs that are sending investment interstate. Industry needs certainty.

We also need to get a massive pair of scissors and cut through red tape. Processes like cultural heritage need review. We currently have one third of Melbourne being held up with a six-month delay on cultural heritage reviews because the Indigenous land council collapsed. Enough.

Big things need to be done. But we also need to protect what is best about our community, both in terms of our people and our places. There is no better State, so let’s partner with industry to keep it that way.

James Newbury MP

Member for Brighton

Manager of Opposition Business

Shadow Minister for Planning

Shadow Minister for Environment and Climate Change

Shadow Minister for Equality

The Victorian Planning and Environmental Law Association (VPELA) is a non-political multi-disciplinary professional association, concerned with the planning, legal and environment fields.