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The Property Council of Australia (PCA) has warned that the state’s new 10-year land release plan for housing development “fails to answer key questions about delivery”.
The Victorian government has announced a 10-year land release plan that will see the release of 27 additional greenfield areas across Melbourne’s outer south-east, north and west for use in a series of new precinct structure plans (PSPs).
The first three greenfield plans set to be released across 2024–25 include:
- Northern Freight Precinct, an employment precinct in Whittlesea Council.
- Cardinia Creek South Part 2, a residential precinct in Cardinia Council.
- Kororoit Part 2, the western corridor within Melton Council adjacent to Caroline Springs.
These locations are described as building on the seven metropolitan Melbourne greenfield plans which are currently being prepared as part of the Victorian Planning Authority’s work plan.
The government highlighted that this pipeline would provide developers with the “confidence to invest early” by supplying concrete timelines for industry and community around the expected commencement of the 27 new planning processes.
Minister for Planning and Suburbs, Sonya Kilkenny, echoed this sentiment in describing the release as a “window 10 years into the future for home builders”, and added that “it’s what they’ve been asking for to plan and build with confidence”.
The government has also improved the planning system around building processes, with the Victorian Planning Authority set to be integrated with the Department of Transport and Planning as of 1 January 2025.
Through this decision, the government said that the four major strategic, transport, statutory and spatial components of Victoria’s planning system will be working together to minimise the “delays and duplication” which hinder the delivery of faster and more effective structure planning.
To further streamline this process, a dedicated concierge service will also be available to work alongside councils and industry to identify and address the obstacles that are preventing already zoned land from being developed.
The Property Council of Australia welcomed the 10-year development plan for providing “long-term direction for the release of new land for housing and jobs”, but noted that the initiative still “fails to answer key questions about delivery”.
The council’s executive director for Victoria, Cath Evans, said that the plan “didn’t provide the property industry enough detail about how plans will be completed or ways to address the current barriers to quicker delivery”.
“Precinct structure plans underpin the development of new homes and workplaces, but in recent years these plans have been slowed down and made more complex,” Evans said.
Evans stated that the 10-year greenfield plan fails to answer key questions around the speed of delivery, and provides little information around how the various sites have been selected and prioritised.
She added that the outline also did not provide any information around how it plans to address current obstacles, such as key infrastructure delays, and the barriers posed by “current cultural heritage and environment assessment processes”.
In order to supply Victoria with the housing the state requires, Evans emphasised that it is “crucial that we deliver these precinct plans more efficiently”.
“Greenfield developers have a proven track record of delivering new and cohesive communities with affordable housing in places people want to live. Continuing and accelerating these developments will be critical to meeting our state’s housing targets,” she said.
Looking towards the future, Evans said the Property Council would continue to seek more information over the coming weeks to provide the wider industry with “assurance on delivery and time frames” around the 10-year plan.
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