The City of Casey is finalising plans for a dynamic new suburb in the centre of the municipality, which will lead the world in sustainable living. The area in Cranbourne North will include around 6,000 to 7,000 houses for an expected population of 20,000 people. A core driver of this project is to provide innovative solutions to the typical problems of suburban growth.
Some of the key solutions being considered are as follows.
- A large, new town centre and integrated community facility precincts, schools and shopping centres which combine ‘work and play’ options within the suburb and encourage people to walk around their community for their daily goods and services.
- A range of energy and water efficiency measures, including a new model of street design that treats stormwater run off onsite to improve the quality of water that makes its way to Port Phillip Bay; rainwater tanks for each building with the water being plumbed into toilets and gardens; and the use of treated water from the South East Treatment Plant for toilet flushing and garden use, which would potentially reduce mains water use by half.
- A landscape design theme, including a strong base of indigenous plantings that help restore local ecologies, but with scope for exotic signature tree plantings to highlight and provide colour at key landscape junctions.
- Strong planning and design requirements for new housing to improve design outcomes throughout the area beyond conventional approaches, including a conduit for broadband access to each new home.
- A comprehensive system of walking and cycling paths built into the suburb from the outset that link all key destinations.
The City of Casey has received a State Government grant as part of the Melbourne 2030 Local Government Assistance Fund – Targeted Grants Program run by the Department of Sustainability and Environment to assist the design process of this leading edge suburb. Ultimately, this new ‘world’s best’ suburb will demonstrate how the objectives and principles of Melbourne 2030 can be realised on a large outer suburban development site.
