Mernda’s Johnsons Road residential development is a step closer to reality after the federal government tipped in $7.1 million for the project.
Whittlesea council is developing land on Johnsons Road to create 35 housing lots.
Council purchased the property from the state government in 2014, with the intent of selling the property at a future point for a return to be invested back into community infrastructure.
The council’s former administrators approved the residential development in late-2021. At the time, the administrators said thirty-two of the lots would be sold, with three to be reserved for sale or lease to a registered social housing organisation.
Then-administrator Chris Eddy said the development was council’s way of making “a contribution to dealing with those very serious affordable housing issues that we have in the City of Whittlesea”.
The federal government’s contribution to the project will come from its housing support program and will help fund road and civil infrastructure.
Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Minister Catherine King said the project will include the urbanisation of Johnsons Road and the establishment of shared paths, public space and protection of existing mature trees.
“It’s a really substantial investment in bringing more housing lots to market,” she said.
“The money goes towards that enabling infrastructure that, otherwise, council and the private developer would be paying for.
“And what’s happening across the country, we’ve found, is that because of the costs of some of this infrastructure that housing, those lots, are just not being released for housing at all. People are land-banking or sitting on them waiting for some of those costs to be defrayed, and they’re not coming to market. So, this will bring those 35 lots to market very quickly.”
Ms King said the Johnsons Road development was situated at the end of the Mernda train line near existing services and schools.
