Interface Councils last week met with more than 35 Members of Parliament, Ministers and Shadow Ministers to discuss better planning for Melbourne’s fringe ahead of Victoria’s May Budget.
Interface Councils Chair and Mayor of Mitchell Shire Council, Cr Bill Chisholm, said the Growing Suburbs Fund Progress Report showed the Fund had already enabled more than 160 community infrastructure projects and created upwards of 2800 jobs but that there was no certainty it would continue into the next financial year.
“The Growing Suburbs Fund is vital to providing community infrastructure to Melbourne’s outer suburban communities and we were focussed on making it the centre of our discussions at Parliament last week.
“The liveability of the outer suburbs depends on the Fund continuing. At the moment we have no certainty that this will happen but at the same time new suburbs are popping up overnight and there’s backlog of more than $1 billion in underfunded community infrastructure linked to approved Precinct Structure Plans.
“We are calling for the reinstatement of the annual commitment of $50 million for the Growing Suburbs Fund to be made when the Budget is handed down in May.
