Fast track for growth plan

MP urges major projects action

BELLARINE MP Lisa Neville is pushing for the Geelong Authority to have greater powers, flagging the possibility of it assuming planning responsibility for the development of the Moolap and Point Henry coastal precinct.

Ms Neville said the Geelong Authority, which advises the Planning Minister on major projects in the CBD, had worked well with the Geelong council but needed more teeth.

“We can’t take a step back in how we revitalise the CBD,” Ms Neville said. “We have to continue to have a go-to place if we are doing residential or business development, someone who fast-tracks planning approvals.”

She said Geelong had some major projects on the horizon, including the Moolap coastal strategic framework plan that would soon be released by the State Government.

Ms Neville said a focused organisation that could get planning permits approved quickly would be needed to oversee development of the 1200ha of coastal land.

Ms Neville raised the possibility of broader powers for the Geelong Authority during a speech to Geelong business leaders at an event hosted on Friday by the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

She said Geelong’s growth and declining unemployment was testament to the city’s resilient economy and community in the wake of the closures at Ford and Alcoa.

“We are outstripping every estimation of population growth in Geelong,” Ms Neville said.

Advanced manufacturing was leading the way, particularly with the success of Carbon Revolution, Carbon Nexus and advanced manufacturing business incubator Manufutures at Deakin University, she said.

She said the Manufutures model and Deakin’s innovation ecosystem might be able to be replicated to foster other industries such as in food and fibre.

“There are probably some other areas in advanced manufacturing that we should be starting to explore as a community to leverage some government money in order to leverage some private money as well,” Ms Neville said.