STAR News Group has joined forces with the City of Casey and Cardinia Shire in a campaign to discover what residents in the region need.
A campaign to tap into the ’Voices of the Outer Suburbs’ will be launched this week – a partnership between the National Growth Areas Alliance (NGAA) and councils in Melbourne’s fringe.
The National Growth Areas Alliance (NGAA), a coalition of Australia’s 25 fastest growing municipalities, has created a new campaign called Voices of the Outer Suburbs.
According to the NGAA, working age people living in growth suburbs on the outskirts of Australia’s capital cities are more likely to be unemployed than the average Australian. A gap in terms of access to community facilities and better public transport also exists between Australians living in established suburbs and those in growth areas, according to the NGAA.
The NGAA will launch its latest research and a new website on Friday encouraging residents to discuss everything they want to see improved in the outer suburbs, as well as what they love about the place they call home.
The latest research includes addresses, skills and employment gaps in the growth areas, and will be fed to the relevant government authorities in the lead-up to this year’s federal election and next year’s state election.
Casey mayor Amanda Stapledon was at the launch of the campaign, and said she was able to speak to several young people from the interface councils about the issues facing them.
She said it was an appropriate time to voice their concerns to the state and Federal governments.
“I think any time is a good time to do this, we are approaching a State Government election in a year-and-a-half, and we want to give them plenty of notice about what issues need to be addressed,” she said.
Cardinia Shire mayor Brett Owen agreed.
He said the campaign was about using the opinions and first-hand experiences from residents to work with state and federal governments to improve the shire.
“We have two elections over the next 18 months – it’s time for us to get a better deal for residents, a fairer equitable deal,” he said.
“We live in a great spot, but it can be better.”
Cr Stapledon said the biggest issues facing the Casey council were the lack of jobs and infrastructure.
“The key focus in Casey is around jobs and infrastructure which is consistent with all interface councils,” she said.
“What is specific to Casey is our desire to see the infrastructure for the Port of Hastings project realised which will provide a significant number of jobs for Casey and will provide much-needed goods transport in and out of Casey; helping support our existing businesses and grow new business; keeping jobs local.”
As part of that campaign, the News will be tapping into the needs and wants of people living in the growing areas on the edge of Melbourne. We want to know the challenges residents face out here, compared to those who live closer to the city – the daily commute to work, public transport, heath, education, access to services and so on.
To contribute, visit the website at www.voicesofoutersuburbs.com.au or contact a News journalist on 5945 0666.
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THE NATIONAL Growth Areas Alliance (NGAA) will launch the interactive ‘Voices of the Outer Suburbs’ campaign this week.
Stories from the City of Casey will join experiences from 24 other fast growing municipalities in the country. In all, these municipalities equate to about 3.6 million people, 16 per cent of the nation’s population. By 2026, more than one in five people or 5.4 million Australians will live in these areas.
The NGAA hopes to make individual stories publicly available, so local experiences can inform government policies and programs to help the City of Casey become an even better place to live, work, play and do business.
NGAA Victorian spokesperson and Wyndham City Council mayor Heather Marcus said it was important to get things right in growth areas for the next generation.
“The results of this research demonstrate that residents in our outer suburbs have less chance of getting a job than if they lived elsewhere,” she said.
“If we don’t act now, the problem is set to worsen. I can’t imagine anyone who would be happy to leave things the way they are.
“Our residents are an untapped resource, and we should be providing them with the skills and the infrastructure that others enjoy. This will increase, not decrease this country’s wealth.”
The Voices of the Outer Suburbs website will be launched on Friday and the guest speaker will be Brendan Gleeson who is a Professor of Urban Policy Studies at the University of Melbourne
