From Plans to Progress: State Election candidates tour Fishermans Bend's future
As Australia's largest urban renewal project, Fishermans Bend is expected to accommodate around 80,000 residents and 80,000 jobs over coming decades, making it one of the nation's most significant city-shaping projects.
The tours provided candidates with the opportunity to hear directly from Council, local stakeholders and community representatives about the infrastructure needed to support this growth and ensure Fishermans Bend develops as a connected, liveable and prosperous community.
It was encouraging to see strong engagement from candidates and genuine interest in both the scale of growth planned for Fishermans Bend and the infrastructure required to support it. Discussions highlighted a consistent theme: housing delivery and infrastructure delivery must go hand in hand.
Candidates visited a number of key sites across Fishermans Bend, including the Montague Precinct, Kirrip Park and the future Sandridge Recreation Precinct, gaining first-hand insight into the opportunities and challenges shaping the area's future.
A key area of discussion was the relationship between growth, climate resilience and infrastructure delivery. In the Montague Precinct, candidates explored how investment in drainage and flood mitigation infrastructure is critical not only to managing climate risks, but also to unlocking future housing and employment growth.
There was also significant interest in how the planning framework operates in practice, including the recently gazetted Fishermans Bend Development Contributions Plan, the respective roles of local and state government, and how essential infrastructure will be funded and delivered over time.
The future Sandridge Recreation Precinct generated strong discussion, with candidates learning more about Council's vision to transform the former Australia Post site into a major community sporting and recreation hub. Conversations also focused on the scale of remediation and enabling works required to unlock the site and the importance of bringing forward investment to support future community use.
Transport emerged as a recurring theme throughout the tours, including bus connectivity, future tram links, access to neighbourhood centres and the broader challenge of ensuring public transport investment keeps pace with population growth.
Candidates were also interested in the current and projected population growth occurring across Fishermans Bend and the broader question of how infrastructure planning and delivery can stay ahead of growth rather than lag behind it.
The tours concluded with stakeholder discussions over lunch involving local businesses and sporting clubs, highlighting the importance of coordinated investment and advocacy across all levels of government.
As the state election approaches, the City of Port Phillip will continue advocating for the transport, drainage, open space, community infrastructure and recreation facilities needed to ensure Fishermans Bend reaches its full potential as a vibrant place to live, work and invest.