While Council welcomes the Fishermans Bend Integrated Transport Plan, the lack of clear delivery timeframes or funding commitments from the Victorian Government is disappointing.
Prioritising new bus routes ahead of trains and trams, puts the brakes on Australia's biggest urban renewal project and jeopardises Fishermans Bend's huge potential.
We urge the Victorian Government to provide commitment and clarity on the timeframes for delivery of trams and Metro 2 to give our Council, community, developers and investors the much-needed certainty required to unlock Fishermans Bend's huge potential.
Quotes attributable to City of Port Phillip Mayor Louise Crawford
"Plans for new bus services with no clear delivery timeframes do not make up for the continuing lack of commitment to delivering new trams and trains early, a key part of the original Fishermans Bend Framework 2018."
"The move to a demand responsive approach, rather than providing public transport as a catalyst to stimulate growth, is a fundamental shift which risks under-development, less certainty and investment, more congestion and parking conflicts, fewer homes and accessible local jobs being created and, ultimately, a missed opportunity for Port Phillip and greater Melbourne."
"The challenges associated with this approach are well documented in our growth suburbs - this is not appropriate for Australia's largest urban renewal area and will not deliver the high-density, sustainable and liveable places that were envisaged or help alleviate housing affordability issues."
"We urge the Victorian Government to provide commitment and clarity on the timeframes for delivery of trams and Metro 2 to give our Council, community, developers and investors the much-needed certainty required to unlock Fishermans Bend's huge potential."
Quotes attributable to Lord Mayor Nick Reece
"We're disappointed the Victorian Government's plan puts buses ahead of trains and trams, putting the brakes on Australia's biggest urban renewal project and jeopardising the future of Victoria's economy."
"Fishermans Bend is Australia's largest urban renewal project, putting high and medium-density living in exactly the right place - close to offices, services and major education and health institutions."
"This is how we build a bigger, better Melbourne. We need to get these big calls right. I'm not aware of any other project that can unlock this scale of housing growth with the backing of such strong market demand."
"Public transport is the key that unlocks Fishermans Bend. This precinct must be seamlessly connected to the CBD without relying on cars - otherwise congestion will worsen, costs will climb, and we'll create long-term problems instead of solutions."
Background
The Fishermans Bend Employment and Innovation Area is located within City of Melbourne. At 230 hectares, it is the largest precinct within Fishermans Bend.
Melbourne is Australia's top student city, and ranks fifth globally, with the population projected to reach 9 million by 2050.
Under the Victorian Government's Plan for Victoria, the City of Melbourne has been set one of the state's highest housing targets - requiring an additional 119,500 homes by 2051. Critical infrastructure investment is essential to meet these housing and jobs targets.
Three of the five Fishermans Bend precincts are located within the City of Port Phillip - Montague, Sandridge and Wirraway. Combined with Lorimer Precinct and the Fishermans Bend Employment and Innovation Area within the City of Melbourne, Fishermans Bend is proposed to become home to 80,0000 residents and 80,000 jobs by 2055.
The City of Port Phillip is already one of the most densely populated municipalities within Victoria and any further delays to delivery of key public transport infrastructure proposed for Fishermans Bend will result in extra congestion and reduced housing and jobs.
