Hobsons Bay council has welcomed a reduction in the amount of new homes it is expected to build by 2051 in final housing targets released by the state government on Monday.
Having originally been set a target of 31,000 new homes when the policy was first announced last year, the municipality is now being asked to accommodate 22,500 new dwellings by mid-century.
A spokesperson for Hobsons bay council said they had been advocating to the state government for a reduction since the initial targets were announced in June last year .
“Council is therefore pleased to see the state government’s reduction of Hobsons Bay’s housing target by 27 per cent,” said the spokesperson, adding that more information on the location and composition of the new homes was still needed.
“Council remains committed to collaborating with the state government in support of housing growth and addressing the state’s housing shortages.”
Maribyrnong council’s target was only marginally reduced, with 48,000 homes now expected rather 49,000.
Ninety-two of those new homes will be at a social housing development in Wightman Street, Footscray that Premier Jacinta Allan announced on the same day as the final housing targets.
The Victorian opposition has accused the government of trying to shift responsibility for fixing the housing crisis to councils and undermining local democracy.
“It’s not up to them to pass the buck to local government,” opposition local government minister Bev McArthur said.
Inner-city areas have not shouldered their fair share of Melbourne’s housing growth over the past three decades, Premier Jacinta Allan said.
Boroondara in the city’s east and Bayside in the southeast grew by 24 and 28 per cent respectively, in comparison to the outer suburban areas of Melton (433 per cent), Wyndham (346 per cent) and Casey (211 per cent).
While the City of Melbourne (119,500) has the largest final target, Melton (109,000), Wyndham (99,000) and Casey (87,000) have still been saddled with more of the burden than all other inner and middle ring areas.
Ms Kilkenny repeatedly insisted the state-first targets were based on “fairness and equity”.
They were not accompanied with specified plans to build more schools, hospitals and roads to accommodate for the future population boom.
However, Ms Kilkenny pointed out the government was preparing to roll out an infrastructure contribution trial in 2027 to replace “ad hoc” current arrangements for developers.
