By Hamish Heard
HOBSONS Bay City Council does not have the resources to implement a State Government plan to guide suburban development, according to a submission to the Melbourne 2030 project.
The council’s submission to a Melbourne 2030 audit catalogued nine reasons why the municipality was facing “considerable challenges” implementing the plan.
The council called on the Brumby Government to provide money for more planning staff to address a major complaint that it lacked adequate resources to administer “complex” Melbourne 2030 policies.
Melbourne 2030 contains new planning policies, including provision for increased housing density close to activity centres, as part of a 30-year plan to manage urban growth.
“A lack of resources, particularly skilled and experienced staff to deliver projects effectively, is significantly impacting on the effective implementation of Melbourne 2030,” council wrote in its submission.
“Further consideration needs to be given to increasing the number of skilled urban planners across Melbourne and throughout the state.”
The submission also called on the State Government to provide more public transport.
“The focus on urban consolidation and activity centres to accommodate more development requires significantly more investment in public transport,” it stated.
“State Government budgets have not matched Melbourne 2030 objectives.”
The project had also failed to meet council’s expectations in relation to environmental sustainability, sparking calls for strategies to protect pockets of native vegetation across Hobsons Bay and reduce the impacts of climate change.
“State Government has failed to keep pace with community expectations to the point where many councils have prepared their own environmentally-sustainable development standards.”
Other major gripes included a lack of government effort to help residents understand the project.
“This role has fundamentally been left to councils without any support,” the submission stated.
“Greater leadership is required from State Government to more effectively implement M2030.”
