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More apartments and affordable housing are likely in Bendigo’s future.
City of Greater Bendigo strategy manager Trevor Budge spoke to the need for a broader range of dwellings in the municipality in response to Infrastructure Victoria’s draft 30-year infrastructure strategy.
The draft, released today, identified housing for low-income Victorians and densification as requiring “decisive action”.
Support for densification
The City of Greater Bendigo has welcomed the draft, which Mr Budge said reflected some of council’s existing priorities.
“Ninety per cent of all our houses are freestanding houses on relatively large blocks of land,” he said.
“That’s fine, but 55 per cent of all our households are one or two people.
“What we lack is housing choices for a whole range of people.”
He said council had adopted a compact city model as part of its residential strategy and was trying to minimise urban sprawl.
“Council very much supports densification,” Mr Budge said.
“It provides a mix of housing.”
But he said the principle would manifest itself differently in Bendigo than in metropolitan Melbourne, where high-rise apartment buildings are shooting up throughout the city.
“Densification in Bendigo is the four-storey apartment block seen on the corner of Mitchell and Mollison streets,” Mr Budge said.
He said the shift from single-storey developments on large blocks to apartments was planned for a small number of locations, including activity centres beyond the Bendigo CBD.
“In those places, we’re probably going to see two storeys,” Mr Budge said.
Council was working with businesses and organisations on plans for housing projects which would provide options for people on low incomes, Mr Budge said.
“We don’t want to be a city that excludes somebody from being part of the city because they can’t afford housing,” he said.
Submissions will be open until October 31, with the final strategy expected to be delivered to Victorian Parliament by the year’s end.
The state government will release its five-year plan for infrastructure priorities in the 12 months thereafter.
Housing for vulnerable Victorians
Haven; Home, Safe also welcomed the draft.
Acting chief executive officer Trudi Ray said the not-for-profit organisation was particularly pleased to see the provision of more affordable housing in the top three priorities for government.
“Clearly the State Government has a leadership role to play in meeting the current and future housing needs of vulnerable Victorians,” she said.
“We look forward to continuing to partner with Government and the private sector to increase access to affordable housing over the short to medium-term,” she said.
The strategy states there are more than 30,000 people on the Victorian waiting list for public housing.
Almost 120,000 Victorian households are recipients of Commonwealth Rent Assistance, of which 50,000 are in the lowest income bracket.
“Existing provisions are therefore not meeting current demand, let alone providing capacity for future population growth,” the strategy states.
Suggested measures for improvement include better use of public housing stock, and increased support for low-income Victorians to access and stay in private rental housing.
“We also support the report’s recommendation to review the current planning provisions and the implementation of inclusionary zoning, primarily for government land,” Ms Ray said.