A state government plan to transform Plumpton into a residential and employment hub lacks key details about potential financial risks, Melton council believes.
The council said there were “a number of omissions” relating to key infrastructure within the Victorian Planning Authority’s Plumpton precinct structure plan (PSP).
It said it cannot fully support the VPA plan in its current guise, and wants to better understand its financial obligations and the possible “financial risks” involved, particularly those associated with a proposed aquatics centre.
The Plumpton PSP anticipates a 1530-hectare residential and employment development along the Melton Highway between Rockbank North and Taylors Hill West.
The plan cites about 11,000 new dwellings, 12,650 jobs and 29,900 new residents.
While generally supportive of the plan, the council particularly cites a lack of detail about a new aquatics centre, which would be used by Plumpton residents and people living in a similar development at Kororoit.
The Kororoit precinct estimates 9200 new dwellings and about 25,875 people.
The council has asked VPA for more details.
“Land acquisition and construction of the proposed district-level Plumpton aquatics centre is a significant omission,” a council report states.
“The draft PSP does not go far enough to ensure the delivery of infrastructure … in a timely and orderly manner.”
The council has also asked that the new precinct be included in a general residential zone rather than a general growth zone.
A panel hearing is due to hear submissions in late November or early December.
