Victoria can expect two new suburbs in the coming years as Matthew Guy has announced a new 'employment focussed' suburb in East Werribee along with the inner city urban renewal development of Fishermans Bend.
Construction within the Fishermans Bend division is expected to create thousands of jobs in the high rise building industry with 5000 apartments to be built in a ten year period which will have an expected economic impact of around $1.5 billion.
The government is estimating that around 13500 construction workers will be employed to participate in the development of the 240 hectares in the Capital City Zone.
The significantly larger future suburb in East Werribee 50,000 jobs across a range of industries and more than 7000 homes in the 770 hectare area.
The state government has said that the Werribee project will include: "a new freeway interchange, integrated employment and residential areas, 'high quality urban design and the application of world leading practice in sustainable water usage."
Crikey blogger Alan Davies has criticised the Fishermans Bend development saying that the infrastructure will be expensive and out of reach for most and that it will not address the housing shortage.
He does however endorse the idea of high density dwellings and says that Melbournians shouldn't be scared of Fisherman's Bend ending up as another Docklands.
"This is an argument for more density, not less. It’s an opportunity to make up for the many restrictions on density elsewhere in Melbourne and go for significantly more dwellings that Ms Cunich (Jennifer Cunich, Chief Executive of the Property Council) envisages. Population density should accordingly be maximised – consistent with market conditions and good design practice – so that the best use is made of this precious asset."
