By Ethan Benedicto
Melbourne’s south east, including the City of Casey, is amongst many growth areas in Melbourne that have been coined to need a bigger boost to parks and open spaces due to rapid urban expansion.
Infrastructure Victoria recently released their draft for the state’s ‘30-year Infrastructure Strategy’, where, in addition to their statistics, they have sought the input and feedback of the local community.
The draft emphasised additional train lines for Cranbourne to Clyde, expanded libraries and their services, as well as TAFE’s expansion, and the importance of open spaces and their accessibility.
In the draft, it details that in the outer and middle metropolitan areas in the southeast, there are 460,000 people who cannot access outdoor sports fields within a 10-minute walk.
Looking deeper, in growth areas in the southeast, there are 88,000 people that cannot access an outdoor sports field within the same time frame.
Infrastructure Victoria’s chief executive, Dr Jonathan Spear, said that over the next decade, “more than 800,000 extra people are expected to live in Melbourne’s already booming growth areas”.
“People in growth areas have less access to infrastructure like public transport, schools and libraries near their homes.
“They are less likely to be able to access jobs within their local area compared to those living in Melbourne’s inner and middle suburbs,” he said.
Parks and open spaces, as stated in the draft, play an important role in the upkeep of the state’s and the people’s health.
It was added that in 2022-2023, there were 564,886 ‘potentially avoidable’ presentations to the emergency department in Victoria that could have been managed in primary or community health, many of which were related to chronic conditions.
The draft says that in addition to infrastructure such as hospitals and community health facilities, “public open spaces such as parks and sports fields, and walking and cycling paths give people opportunity for exercise”.
Paula, from the Friends of Wilson Botanic Park, is an advocate for more open and green spaces in Casey, saying that a critical factor of it “is really a mental health aspect”.
“There are two parts to it really, but the closeness to nature is important to people’s mental health, as well as the opportunity to exercise.
“The other aspect is that these parks and open spaces play a big role in having events or just bringing the community together,” she said.
The City of Casey has multiple avenues being implemented to enhance the quality and growth of green and open spaces.
According to their Open Space Strategy that was endorsed on 17 October 2023, the purpose of it was to deliver a ‘connected network of quality and diverse open spaces’ to improve the liveability in the city.
Similar to Infrastructure Victoria’s draft, this strategy recognised the increasing population of Casey and its urbanisation, calling for a network of trails and green corridors that would connect parks, reserves and community spaces across the city.
Likewise, it is detailed that the strategy aims to ensure that local parks are within 400 metres of all residents, and district and regional parks should be within one kilometre of suburban homes for accessible recreational options.
Building on that, the strategy also emphasises a focus on this level of interconnectedness through local, district and regional levels; in addition, mentioned local paths are planned to provide circuit routes around neighbourhoods, while larger trails serve as a connection between suburbs for longer walking, cycling and running trails.
Speaking in her area of residence, Paula has noticed the urban growth first hand, where she observed more fences and homes going up, and trees and shrubbery going down.
“If anything, parks have become more important”, she said, and with the prominence of high-density living, she also fears the frequency of people attending to said open spaces.
“Parks are even more important, especially if they’re going to be building housing like that, they have to incorporate those open spaces more so people can have access to the outdoors, that fresh air.
“That access to recreational areas and spaces is critical; it provides space for people to make them their meeting space,” she said.
Once community and stakeholder feedback to the draft is gathered and finished, the complete strategy will be tabled in the Victorian Parliament to inform the policies of all parties.
The draft strategy is open for said feedback until Monday, 28 April 2025.
This story is developing, and information and comments will be added once available.
