Wednesday, 5 March 2025

Ministers statements: planning policy

Sonya KILKENNY (Carrum – Attorney-General, Minister for Planning) (14:58): It has been 30 years since we have had a strategic plan for all of Victoria, but last week we fixed that when we launched Plan for Victoria. This follows the biggest community consultation ever undertaken in Victoria. More than 110,000 Victorians told us what they love and value about where they live and about their vision for Victoria. This is your vision and your plan. Plan for Victoria, for all of Victoria, is our pathway to get us there, starting with 22 concrete actions which are going to really shift the dial ‍– actions to deliver more homes in activity centres across Melbourne and more homes and opportunities in our regional areas, including Ballarat, Geelong and Bendigo, close to jobs, close to public transport and close to services. We have got housing targets for every local government area and maps to show us where they need to go.

We have got an action to put in place regional city and town boundaries so homes go in the right places, we manage outward sprawl and we protect and preserve what we love and what we value about regional and rural Victoria – things like our food supply, valuable agricultural land, natural resources, biodiversity, landscapes and tourism. Melbourne’s urban growth boundary helps to protect what we love, and now regional cities and towns can be sure we will protect regional values and the great lifestyles regional Victoria offers. There is also an action for more trees – more street trees, trees on nature strips, greening our streets and neighbourhoods, reducing the urban heat effect and improving our quality of life in every single suburb. Whether you are in metropolitan Melbourne or a proud out-of-towner from regional Victoria, Plan for Victoria is going to deliver for everyone and so is this Allan Labor government.