Wednesday, 11 September 2024

Planning policy

Luba GRIGOROVITCH (Kororoit) (19:13): (836) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Planning. The action I seek is for the minister to investigate how we as a government can further protect homebuyers from misleading information and statements made by developers. My patch of Kororoit is home to the fastest growing suburbs in Australia, and you can see why, with the numerous housing developments springing up in areas between Caroline Springs and Melton. People are wanting to live in Melbourne’s west. They are building forever homes and starting families. They are starting new businesses, and in some cases they are even starting their new lives here in Australia. They are choosing to live in the west for many reasons, but I have been told time and time again that their decision is always being influenced by the master plans issued by the developers – the promise of community facilities, being close to schools and shops as their family grows. They look at these plans with their future in mind and they make life-changing decisions.

The developers are promising schools with flashy signs saying ‘coming soon’ that we as a government have not yet funded or even purchased the land for. Out in the west we have seen developers time and time again not delivering. Their master plans do not come to fruition. The plan to even have a shop nearby to get basic groceries has been a long fight for many residents in these residential developments across the west. Residents are moving into these areas that not long ago were farmland. These suburbs and towns are being built from the ground up, and they are aware when buying into these new areas that these things can take time, but when the promises of a shopping centre, a community sportsground or a school never eventuate at all, that leaves residents frustrated and of course fed up. I know as a government we have taken some big steps in this space, but we need to go further.

These developers are relying on the state government or the local council to fill the gaps that they fail to deliver on. They make their money and then they just seem to cut and run. They are on to the next project, and it is simply not good enough. Something needs to change. The developers need to be held accountable for the broken promises that litter the western suburbs.