Brimbank Council has joined 13 regional councils to welcome the announcement of the North West Melbourne City Deal Plan 2020-2040, a 20-year proposal of key projects and significant investment for the western and northern regions.
The North and West Melbourne City Deal Plan 2020-2040 aims to kickstart economic recovery in one of the fastest growing regions of Australia, reboot business, boost social and economic inclusion, and leverage existing strengths in health, food production, manufacturing and logistics.
The Plan gives this region the opportunity to work across all three levels of government, business, industry and education, to invest in the future development of this dynamic region, and its people.
This Plan lays the ground work for 66 transformative and enabling projects as the blueprint for the region and key to significant investment and job creation.
Projects such as the Melbourne Airport Rail Link, the Sunshine Super Hub, St Albans Health and Wellbeing Hub, and Home of the Matilda’s at Sydenham Park; plus many other projects, can create economic growth, transport connectivity, health and education, and most importantly, jobs.
As the lead Mayor for the Western Region for the North West Melbourne City Deal, Brimbank Mayor Cr Georgina Papafotiou said this is an exciting opportunity for genuine collaboration between all levels of government, to help plan for major development in the broader area.
‘With the western and northern region’s population set to reach over 3 million by 2040, this Plan is the key to unlocking future economic development and infrastructure growth in the region.
‘The North and West of Melbourne is the heartbeat of Victoria and support is needed now as we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, and also into the future as we recover and re-structure for a brighter future.
‘Brimbank has always been particularly vulnerable to a prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, with our pre-existing socio-economic challenges, and some of the highest unemployment rates in Victoria.
‘These regions have been hardest hit by the pandemic, and we need this Plan now more than ever to improve liveability, create long-term jobs and drive investment in the west.
‘The 20-year forward plan provides an unprecedented opportunity to unlock Brimbank’s potential, provide pathways to jobs, health and education, transport and connectivity and facilitate further investment and economic growth.
‘At the heart of the Plan is the Melbourne Airport Rail project and Sunshine Super Hub, which would create up to 15,000 jobs and transform Sunshine to become an economic powerhouse of Melbourne’s West.
‘Combined with the Western Rail Plan, and the Sunshine Priority Precinct, Brimbank is set to becoming the capital of Melbourne’s west.
‘Council welcomes the long term vision and collaborative approach of the Plan, and looks forward to transforming Melbourne’s western region and making the region’s cities better places to live and do business.
‘Council always has, and continues to take a proactive, and diligent approach in informing and applying its advocacy, which will be vitally important in helping us get the North West City Deal right, so we can secure the outcomes our communities need to respond, recover and rebuild from the COVID Pandemic,’ Cr Papafotiou said.
Background information
The Federal and State Governments committed to developing a North West Melbourne City Deal in 2019 and asked local communities to develop a plan for what it might look like.
In an unprecedented collaboration, 13 local Councils represented by LeadWest and the Northern Councils Alliance, La Trobe and Victoria Universities, and economic development bodies NORTH Link and the West of Melbourne Economic Development Alliance, have joined forces to develop shared priorities for the North and West Melbourne region.
The North and West Melbourne City Deal Plan 2020-2040 is a community effort to arrive at a joint list of investment priorities for the region. The next step in progressing the deal is to seek formal Memorandum of Understanding arrangements at a Commonwealth, State and local government level.
The Plan comes on top of Brimbank’s new 19 Point Action Plan for COVID Response and Recovery recently launched to help address the unprecedented local impacts of the global pandemic, which specially calls for a fast-tracked North and West Melbourne City Deal.
The Plan also comes on top of the recently released Leading with Vision, Transforming Brimbank Future Priorities 2050 which sets out the strategic opportunities associated with investing in Brimbank and the Sunshine Priority Precinct, including through light Rail along Ballarat Road, the former Sunshine Landfills and Energy Park transformed into a regional sports precinct, and transforming Sydenham Park into a major tourist attraction.
To help inform Brimbank’s approach to the North and West Melbourne City Deal, in September 2019 Brimbank undertook a study tour to Sydney and Western Sydney to learn how they’d taken advantage of opportunities and challenges similar to the ones Brimbank is facing.
The Study Tour included visits and meetings with Sydney Airport, Sydney Airport Rail Link, Mascot Precinct, Green Square Precinct, Barangaroo, visiting Parramatta and Liverpool activity centres, the new Western Sydney Airport project, as well as meeting with all of the Councils who were engaged as part of the Western Sydney City Deal.
To read the North and West Melbourne City Plan Deal 2020-2040 visit: www.nwmcitydeal.org.au
