06 May 2013
The Victorian Governments sweeping reforms to zoning understands the flexibility required to generate new jobs, says the Urban Taskforce.
The dramatic changes to zoning in Victoria provide two zonings that support jobs, says Urban Taskforce CEO, Chris Johnson. One zone provides for diverse mixed use including retail, office and higher density residential growth while the other is a flexible employment only zone.
To cope with the increase expected in retail growth the reforms allow small scale supermarkets in the Commercial Zone 2 areas as well as bulky goods, office and industrial uses.
In a signal that change is coming, the new zones will be fully implemented on 1 July 2013 and retail and office floor space caps will be removed across metropolitan Melbourne.
The Planning Reform White Paper for NSW also proposes reforms to zoning with a Mixed Use Zone and an Enterprise Zone whose purpose is to stimulate job growth. These new zones however may not be implemented for some years as the restructuring of the layers of plans filters down to the local level.
The Urban Taskforce believes that jobs are so critical to Sydneys future that an interim zoning policy is needed to encourage more jobs in the right locations. This is particularly so for Western Sydney but we need early action.
