IF THEY ARE COMING, WILL YOU BUILD IT?

AYEAR out to the 2022 state election, and the future needs of our region seemed to be the hot topic on everybody's lips this week. The Premier made his first visit to the region in months to announce the new designs for the Geelong Arts Centre and stopped by the Addy office to discuss some of Geelong’s pressing issues, covering everything from the proposed convention centre to the mall. But unsurprisingly, it was the challenges presented by the post-pandemic Melbourne migration boom that dominated the discussion.

This region was already headed for a population influx long before Covid changed our daily lives. The continued expansion of the Armstrong Creek corridor as well as developments in areas such as Lara and across the Bellarine Peninsula, had already altered local demographics. And with work about to begin on the city’s northern and western growth corridor, forecasts had our region hitting a population of half a million people in the next 26 years.

But Covid has added another layer to all that. Yesterday Mr Andrews quite correctly identified that the Geelong region had been the top destination for Melburnians looking to escape the city post-pandemic. Further complicating matters, greater flexibility around working from home had seen some splitting their time between city and coast in an ad hoc fashion, creating resource and planning headaches for authorities.

Mr Andrews wasn’t the only politician to raise the growth of the Geelong region this week. State Opposition Leader Matthew Guy told the local Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday that he thought Geelong should no longer be considered regional. He said an attitude change in government was needed so that Geelong could be considered Victoria’s second major urban centre, with the transport upgrades to support it.

And federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese will be in town today to tackle a similar theme, announcing plans for a further $125m duplication of Barwon Heads Rd should he be elected prime minister at the next federal election.

It is still too soon to determine what long-term impact Covid will have on our permanent population, but the influx of new residents has the potential to be both exciting and problematic if the associated essential infrastructure is not up to scratch.

And, in a post-pandemic economy, it remains to be seen just where the cash to fund the infrastructure needs of a hundred thousand extra people will come from.

But this is not a matter of, to quote Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will come.” The people are coming. It is now up to all levels of government to work together to ensure the region’s key services and facilities are adequate to keep up with the demand.