Legislative Assembly Environment and Planning Committee

Inquiry into environmental infrastructure for growing populations

Awaiting Government Response

Rapid population growth in Melbourne and key regional centres has transformed our state, with benefits as well as challenges. The preservation of our state’s environmental infrastructure is one of those challenges. While COVID-19 has recently led to a slowing of population growth, it has also highlighted the importance of people being able to access parks and open space in their local neighbourhoods. This inquiry investigated what can be done to enhance the amenity of our suburbs and key regional centres, considering both recent and future development across our state and looked at community access to parks and open space, sporting fields, forest and bushland, wildlife corridors and waterways.

Received from the Legislative Assembly on 1 May 2019:

An inquiry into the current and future arrangements to secure environmental infrastructure, particularly parks and open space, for a growing population in Melbourne and across regional centres to the Environment and Planning Committee for consideration and report no later than 31 December 2020*.

*The Speaker advised the House on 2 June 2020 that the Legislative Assembly Environment and Planning Committee has extended its reporting date for the Inquiry into environmental infrastructure for growing populations to 30 June 2021. This extension was agreed to by the committee under the resolution of the House on 23 April 2020.**

**The reporting date was further extended to 30 September 2021 by resolution of the Legislative Assembly on 20 May 2021.***

***The reporting date was further extended to 10 February 2022 by resolution of the Legislative Assembly on 18 November 2021.