A BOOST to jobs, transport and infrastructure is essential to save Melbourne’s west falling further behind the rest of the state, according to lobby organisation LeadWest.
Its Western Agenda 2012-16, released last week, is designed as a “road map” for ensuring greater focus on the rapidly expanding west where an extra 240,000 people are expected to live within 20 years.
Chairman Barry Harvey says growth is the one word that best sums up Melbourne’s west.
“There is growth in population here, a growing regional economy, and we must work together to ensure that people in our communities have greater opportunity to grow into their full potential.”
The document notes Melbourne’s west is home to 13.4 per cent of the state’s population but only 8 per cent of jobs.
More than seven in 10 Maribyrnong residents travel outside the area to work, and four in five of the people working in Maribyrnong live outside the area, mostly further west.
LeadWest also painted a troubling picture of health issues, particularly mental health and diabetes, noting health and community services are “significantly underfunded and under-resourced”.
Road and public transport was singled out as a key problem area.
— Benjamin Millar
