A New Plan for Victoria: Submission from RCV

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Victoria is changing. Over the next 30 years, our population is set to grow by around 320 people every day – to more than 10 million.

One in four people live outside of Melbourne. And around half of all regional Victorians – more than 800,000 people – live in one of our ten regional cities. These ratios haven’t changed in decades.

The new plan for Victoria is an opportunity to ensure that regional Victoria is part of the state’s growth strategy and home to a greater proportion of the population and economic prosperity.

As we imagine the future of our regional cities, the Victorian Government’s plan for Victoria must be more than a target for new dwellings. It must be a plan for growth and larger communities that supports the whole of Victoria and its economy. Success will depend on genuine consideration of the rural and regional context.

Each of our regions is unique. Some will house a significant portion of Victoria’s new residents. Others must be supported to ensure stable populations that service and underpin rural industries and regional economies.

Councils have invested significant resources and undertaken extensive community consultation and research to develop long-term housing and growth strategies that will better serve current and future residents, businesses, and visitors.

Our vision is a plan for Victoria that reflects these strategies and articulates clear actions that will drive decisions and investment to attract more people to live and work in regional Victoria; better connect our regional cities to Melbourne and each other; coordinate housing growth with infrastructure investment; protect rural amenity and support resilient, healthy communities; increase housing choice and diversity; and address housing affordability.

Transformative investment in regional cities can benefit the whole state.