Planners lost west for new growth areas

Jessica Benton
PLANNERS are already looking west of Geelong’s ring road for the city’s next major residential growth area, a development forum heard this week.
The Urban Development Program luncheon heard that demand was likely to fill the city’s Armstrong Creek growth area faster than expected, forcing a search for new land to develop.
Program members attended the luncheon to hear about the residential and industrial development outlook for the Geelong region.
City of Greater Geelong’s Tim Hellsten said high demand for planned growth areas such as Armstrong Creek meant land supply would run out in the next 30 years.
“We really need to start encouraging more green fields growth like Armstrong Creek,” he said.
“When we first started looking at Armstrong Creek the lot supply was set at 30-plus years but it now looks to be significantly less.
“Council needs to look at where the next Armstrong Creek will be located.”
Mr Hellsten said the City and other planning authorities had earmarked west of Geelong’s new ring road as the next projected growth corridor.
“A lot of opportunities have opened up by the ring road,” he said.
“While we don’t want to open up the floodgates on the area, it’s certainly an area of interest and council is reviewing and planning for the long-term future.
“We do need to start looking at what infrastructures are needed and what the constraints and opportunities are in the area.”
Mr Hellsten pointed out that Lara, Drysdale, Clifton Springs, Leopold, Ocean Grove and Armstrong Creek were already designated growth areas.
But City figures suggested lot supply would dry up in the towns within the next 20 years, with populations set to double in the “major growth corridors” of Ocean Grove and Leopold.
Leopold was one of the first areas that would come under review for growth potential, Mr Hellsten said.
The luncheon heard that Surf Coast Shire planners were also investigating long-term projections.
Surf Coast Shire’s Brydon King said the shire was faced with a challenge of looking beyond the municipality’s two main growth areas of Winchelsea and Torquay/Jan Juc.
“Quite a bit” of vacant land was still available in the shire for green field development as well as business, retail and industrial precincts, he said.
Mr King told the luncheon that authorities should only establish residential development where people wanted to live rather than look to undesirable sites.
The shire has lodged a submission with an independent panel saying development in Torquay’s Spring Creek is inevitable “at the appropriate time”.