By Charlene Gatt
MARIBYRNONG City Council has released a draft housing strategy to guide future housing development over the next two decades.
The draft Maribyrnong Housing Strategy will also ensure that projected demand for more housing will be met in the appropriate suburbs and areas, and addresses sustainable design, affordability and neighbourhood character.
Maribyrnong’s existing housing strategy is more than a decade old and predates demographic changes, the State Government’s Melbourne 2030 plan and Melbourne @ 5 million.
The municipality has more than 73,620 residents living in 31,424 homes, units and apartments across the municipality.
From that, around 67 per cent of people live in detached housing, 20 per cent in apartments and the rest in semi-detached housing.
Approximately seven per cent of Maribyrnong residents live in public housing, with the bulk of public housing in Braybrook – one in four Braybrook homes are State Government owned and run.
The council report notes that housing affordability is an increasingly important issue for both tenants and aspiring home owners in the municipality.
Population projections forecast an extra 30,783 residents in Maribyrnong in the next 20 years, with nearly 16,000 new homes needed to meet the demand.
From this, it has been predicted that apartments will account for almost half of the housing demand.
It is expected that little change will take place within the council’s nominated residential heritage and neighbourhood character precincts, but areas like Footscray and Highpoint will experience a growth in mixed-density housing.
Councillor Michael Clarke said the draft strategy was vital to cater for the exponential growth occurring within the municipality.
Cr Clarke believes the growth estimates were conservative when taking into account semi-established and up-and-coming housing estates like Edgewater Estate, Banbury Village, the Maribyrnong Defence Site, and the Bradmill development.
“We need a diverse range of housing for what is going to be a changing set of needs,” Cr Clarke said.
The draft Maribyrnong Housing Strategy is currently out for public consultation.
