Big land supply boost in Latrobe Valley
Wednesday 23 February 2011
The Victorian Government has amended the Latrobe Planning Scheme to create a potential 3,500 lots to address the current critical shortage of residential land in the Latrobe Valley.
The Government has responded to council's urgent request for assistance to implement key residential rezoning for Churchill, Moe/Newborough, Morwell and Traralgon.
This rezoning is expected to boost local construction jobs, improve housing affordability, better integrate planning processes and increase housing diversity.
Latrobe City has experienced steady population growth in recent years with the latest projections suggesting substantial further growth. Planning for an additional 50,000 people in the region is critical.
Amendment C47, which will be gazetted tomorrow, will rezone more than 300 hectares of land to the Residential 1 Zone in Moe, Newborough, Traralgon, Morwell and Churchill.
The changes being introduced by the amendment were consistent with the structure plans for each of the towns, which identify areas for future growth and will address the shortage of available residential land in Moe, Newborough and Traralgon. This amendment addresses the alarming shortage of residential land supply in a key regional centre, and provides a significant benefit to the Latrobe Valley region.
Increasing the land supply in the Latrobe Valley will improve housing affordability, and importantly will provide more opportunities for the local construction industry. A number of businesses have expressed concern about the lack of land available for development.
Moe and Newborough are important towns that have a lot to offer people who work in the Latrobe Valley or Melbourne, but want to live in an attractive rural town setting. This amendment will improve the local economy and provide important jobs.
Other land which has also been identified in council's structure plans for residential purposes in the main towns will be assessed for future planning scheme amendments.
