Tara Murray
Job-generating projects and transport infrastructure are needed to help Melbourne’s north recover from the impacts of COVID-19, according to a new report.
The latest Northern Horizons report, produced by economic development body NORTH Link and the Northern Council Alliance, outlines a 50-year infrastructure strategy urging job-creating infrastructure to help new industires to fill the gap in the job market.
The report also highlights the challenges facing the northern suburbs post COVID-19.
The key findings showed that the region was heavily affected by COVID-19 and economic confidence and jobs were needed urgently.
The report said growth in the area would continue, with the north of Melbourne to house as many people as Adelaide in 2036.
The report identifies both short and long-term infrastructure investments needed to stimulate job creation in the region.
Among the key short term projects is making the La Trobe NEIC [National Employment and Innovation Cluster] a Victorian government Priority Precinct; the continued development of metropolitan activity centres at Epping, Broadmeadows, Cloverton; building major activity centres in places such as Sunbury; the expansion of the Melbourne Market at Epping; a new major hospital and increased mental health support; and committed construction of community hospitals including in Whittlesea, Craigieburn and Sunbury.
Short-term transport projects include bringing forward suburban rail loop construction in the north to connect precincts; the construction of the Beveridge Intermodal Freight Terminal; completing northern regional train projects and the Outer Metropolitan Ring Road and E6 business case; bus network changes; tram network enhancements and upgrades; railway station upgrades including Broadmeadows; and outer north arterial roads including the Bulla Bypass.
These projects are expected to bring thousands of jobs to the area, according to the report.
In the medium term, the construction of the Beveridge Intermodal Freight Terminal and Outer Metropolitan Ring Road and E6 and Wollert rail extension (bus rapid transit as short term solution) are key items.
The construction of a new hospital in the outer north, likely in the Hume corridor, is also in that time frame.
Report taskforce chair and Hume chief executive Domenic Isola said there is still a lot of work to be done in the north.
“While a number of the Northern Horizons recommendations from the 2014 and 2016 reports have been fulfilled or funded, including Mernda Rail, the North East Link and the Tullamarine Freeway duplication, the pressures of population growth, which will resume as large-scale overseas and interstate immigration recommences, are also acute and we are still playing catch up”, Mr Isola said,
“One in five Melbournians live in the city’s northern region… The size of Melbourne’s north and its rate of population growth rate imply a large and rapidly growing requirement for new/upgraded infrastructure and services, from the fast-growing fringe areas to the densifying inner suburbs.”
