Where will all the houses go?

Last year, 177,000 houses were built in Australia – the target set by the National Housing Accord was 240,000. To achieve the target, the NHA estimates an extra 34 km² of land will be needed – each year for the next 5 years.

Drouin Fields, Gardner & Holman Rd 670+? lots

Under the NHA, each state has a set of commitments and implementation schedules they have agreed to achieve. The Victorian Government has committed to:

            “introduce planning controls around select activity centres to deliver addition homes”

            “clearing planning backlogs at councils”

            “streamlining the planning approvals assessment process for housing development”

“reduce the need for planning permits for housing developments including permit exemptions for secondary dwellings”.

“continued work on Precinct Structure Plans by the Victorian Planning Authority.”

 

Hamilton Heights, McGlone Rd, 900+? lots

Drouin has an area of just over 50 km². The current ‘built up’ area of Drouin is less than 20 km². The current Precinct Structure Plan for Drouin covers an area of about 8 km² and is designed to accommodate 7,400 new dwellings.

Highfields Estate, Buln Buln Rd, 470+? lots

Perhaps we should be concerned for our town being impinged by developmental sprawl even further than it currently is. And, dare one hope that future development will be a little more sympathetic to our natural environment than current practices?