- Minister for Planning
The Andrews Labor Government has rejected a Casey Council application to rezone industrial land in Cranbourne West - ensuring the land remains available for local jobs.
Casey Council was seeking to rezone 133 hectares of land in Cranbourne West from industrial to residential under planning amendment C219 - the motivation for that request is the subject of an ongoing IBAC investigation.
The Labor Government will consider any potential IBAC recommendations about how the planning process relates to councils when the investigation concludes.
Minister for Planning Richard Wynne has denied the Council's application following an independent planning panels process and after approving a groundbreaking new plan that identifies precincts like Cranbourne West and Casey Fields South as critical to the city's future capacity to grow and keep jobs where people live.
The Melbourne Industrial and Commercial Land Use Plan reveals parts of Melbourne south-east are likely to exhaust all industrial land supply by the mid-2020s and parts of Melbourne's west have only 15 years supply of zoned industrial land and six years supply of unzoned industrial land.
To address the shortage, the Plan identifies around 1,300 hectares of commercial land and 13,500 hectares of industrial land across metropolitan Melbourne.
This land has the potential to deliver 270,000 jobs in the office and retail sector, and 300,000 jobs in manufacturing, logistics and other industrial uses.
Maintaining industrial and commercial land in the right areas is critical for jobs and investment, and Melbourne's continued economic growth. Once industrial land is up zoned to a higher value it will never be returned to industrial or employment use.
The new Plan follows extensive consultation with local councils, communities and industry, and supports Plan Melbourne 2017-2050 - the Labor Government's strategy for Melbourne's future development.
For more information on the Melbourne Industrial and Commercial Land Use plan, visit: planning.vic.gov.au/policy-and-strategy/metropolitan-industrial-and-commercial-land-use-plan
As noted by Minister for Planning, Richard Wynne
"The appalling behavior of Casey Council is exactly why the State Government takes responsibility for rezoning decisions - we're now looking at how the planning process relates to councils and what we can do to improve it."
"This is the first plan of its kind and will guide and protect the future use of our industrial and commercial land across Melbourne - supporting jobs and attracting new investment."
"People need jobs close to where they live - that's why industrial and commercial land is critical for our growing communities."
