Homelessness, the Melbourne Airport Rail project and funding for libraries are among Brimbank council’s top priorities ahead of the state council meeting of the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) in May.
Organised twice each year, the MAV meeting enables councils to highlight priorities that have state-wide significance — with the body then advocating for selected matters on behalf of respective councils.
For the upcoming MAV session, Brimbank council has proposed potential motions relating to the construction of the airport rail, addressing the homelessness crisis and a push for needs-based funding for libraries.
In its submission to the association, the council focused on the importance of making the airport rail project operational before the expected opening of the third runway at Melbourne Airport in 2031.
“The Melbourne Airport Rail will not only create better connections to Melbourne Airport for residents and tourists wanting to travel to various parts of metropolitan Melbourne, the rail alignment through Sunshine will also provide airport connections to Victorian regional cities such as Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo.”
As per the most recent update on March 26 on the federal infrastructure website, the completion date of this project is estimated to be late 2033.
“The urgency for a rail connection to Melbourne Airport has been further intensified by the … approval of a third runway at the airport, scheduled to become operational … at least two years before the current completion date of the Melbourne Airport Rail project,” the submission said.
The council is also pushing for MAV to urge the state government to increase the level of funding for the homelessness service workforce.
“Current outreach services are overstretched, leaving many individuals without essential support,” the submission said.
“Without direct funding streams, and without sufficient funding to local support providers, many councils cannot act.”
Its final priority involves the introduction of a needs-based formula to distribute funding to individual library services based on factors like population and socio-economic disadvantage.
