MORE than 190,000 residents will call Wyndham home over the next 30 years as a result of newly approved suburbs, fanning fears about how the city will cope.
Growth Areas Authority chief executive Peter Seamer has called for calm, warning that new residents will not all move in at once.
The GAA and the state government have approved enough land for 69,000 homes to be built.
The most recent approval was for a new suburb at Manor Lakes.
As reported by the Weekly, Planning Minister Matthew Guy approved plans for the suburb last month, allowing for 4850 new houses and 13,500 residents.
Wyndham’s population growth has fuelled frustrations about choked road networks and infrastructure gaps.
But Mr Seamer said it was important to note that the next stage of growth would not occur immediately.
‘‘Residents will gradually move into this new community as it develops over the next 30 years, as is the case for all new master-planned communities,’’ he said.
Mr Seamer said Wyndham was expected to double in size over the next 30 years.
He said the GAA had begun identifying land for infrastructure, mixed use development, employment, community facilities and housing.
The authority has also started planning for the Werribee Employment Precinct, with a structure plan expected to be completed later this year.
Other infrastructure, such as roads, sporting facilities and community centres will be built as needs arise.
‘‘The new communities planned for Wyndham will lead to the delivery of important infrastructure and provide significant opportunities for job creation, investment and facilities,’’ Mr Seamer said.
RMIT planning professor Michael Buxton cast doubts over promises that infrastructure improvements could keep pace with population growth.
‘‘The best illustration of the failure to provide infrastructure is the Point Cook area today. As is the case in many outer-urban suburbs, it’s just not correct to say infrastructure will follow because it’s not following, as anybody with eyes can see,’’ he said.
Professor Buxton said further growth was a cause for concern.
‘‘Every single outer-urban council is now complaining of major infrastructure failure and Wyndham is one of those councils.
‘‘The state government cannot afford it, nobody’s got the money, yet everybody at local, regional and state levels is continuing in some kind of blind fashion to ignore the problem, thinking it will go away.’’
