by Michaela Meade
Hume mayor Carly Moore has welcomed a report calling for more support for important infrastructure in growth areas.
The Infrastructure Victoria (IV) report, released this month, recommended ways the Victorian government can support the state’s growth areas.
These include; providing equitable access to housing with both new and low-income housing; funding libraries and aquatic recreation centres; and building new hospital capacity.
Cr Moore said she welcomed any and all investment in the Hume region, to provide for the growing need in the area.
“We have lots to do, and council can’t do it alone,” Cr Moore said.
“We’re always happy to see more money going into projects for the community.
“With so many people moving here, we can’t do it by ourselves.”
Planning and development director Michael Sharp said the council supported the “important social infrastructure” recommendations in the report.
He said access to high quality health care was a priority for the community.
“The scale of population growth in Hume requires increased capacity both on existing health care and hospital facilities, and in new facilities within our growth areas,” he said.
According to the report’s modelling, people will be looking to work from home more often, which could mean living further away from the workplace.
Mr Sharp said this was not the case for the casual and labour workforce prominent in Hume.
He said work typically undertaken by Hume residents was not “well suited” for working from home, but that the council “continually seeks to attract new businesses and job opportunities in a range of economic sectors that provide new and flexible options for residents close to home”.
Mr Sharp said the council had adopted strategies and policies to allow for projects in the community, such as diverse housing, to come to fruition.
This included the Housing Diversity Strategy and the Affordable Housing Policy.
