The West of Melbourne Economic Development Alliance (WoMEDA) has outlined its vision for Wyndham within its most recent report.
WoMEDA is an independent, not-for-profit organisation that advocates for the economic advancement of Melbourne’s western suburbs and consists of a collaboration of local institutions, councils and other stakeholders.
In tandem with its West of Melbourne Summit that took place across 22-23 October– the second day in Werribee– the group is urging the state government to focus on several major infrastructure projects.
Prioritising the development of the East Werribee employment precinct was listed as one of the top priorities for producing local jobs in Wyndham.
It formed part of the report’s expressed desire to have Werribee elevated into a ‘highly functional satellite city’ of Melbourne by 2050.
WoMEDA proposes that future city planning of Werribee should include an agreed set of principles and criteria about how to make it a functional employment precinct from all three tiers of government.
Electrification and duplication of the Wyndham Vale line was identified as a major public transport necessity, along with a future rail connection between Werribee and Wyndham Vale stations on the Metro service.
The report stated that electrifying the line and incorporating it with the Werribee line would be a way to ease congestion, but that the fact there is no timeline for the either project is a concern.
Advancing the Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) West phase, which would connect Werribee Station with Sunshine Station– and the state government’s ‘Superhub’ that will connect to Melbourne Airport, was listed as a priority.
Currently, SRL West is scheduled to be the last phase of the project’s development and no date has been set for its estimated completion.
The expansion and expediting of the Western Rail Plan, which would include the building of two new stations at Sayers Road in Tarneit and Black Forest Road in Wyndham Vale, was listed as a long term goal.
A major, west-wide overhaul to the bus network rounded out the public transport wishes.
The ‘clean-slate’ bus network would involve introducing 25 new routes that run more frequently than current timetables, as well as predominantly on east-west and north-south routes that intersect with each other in a grid.
The Department of Transport and Planning was contacted but did not repond by deadline.
