Geelong real estate: UDIA tips Bellarine DAL to push up house prices
A land lockdown scheme is set to shatter the dreams of prospective homebuyers in one part of Geelong according to a leading development authority.
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Higher house prices on the Bellarine Peninsula will be the result of a state government decision to lockdown land supply in the region via a 50-year planning vision, the Urban Development Institute of Australia says.
Areas where new homes can be built, where in-fill development can occur and protections for the farming-residential divide were locked via the Bellarine Distinctive Area and Landscape (DAL) plan released by the state government in October.
Bellarine Labor MP Lisa Neville said the DAL protected the environment and amenity of the Bellarine.
“The DAL makes it clear that the Bellarine is not a growth corridor, confirming the current City of Geelong Planning scheme and years of boundaries that are currently in place,” Ms Neville said.
“The northern area of Geelong and the Armstrong Creek areas are designated growth zones providing adequate land availability for the region.
“This means protecting those important assets and green spaces that have attracted people to the area.”
UDIA Victorian branch chief executive Matthew Kandelaars said the Bellarine and Surf Coast were “pressure release valves” for land supply in the Greater Geelong region.
“(Yet) you’ve got these (state) government policies to lock down land supply in these regions when, like never before, we’ve needed land supply to keep a check on housing affordability,” Mr Kandelaars said.
“The (DAL) decision ignores that the Bellarine is critically low on land (future) supply. It is suffering from a housing affordability crisis.
“(The decision) disadvantages the young potential homebuyers in and around the Bellarine who have grown up in the region who would love to stay there and purchase their own home.
Ms Neville refused to answer questions from the Geelong Advertiser about the potential for the DAL to worsen the housing affordability crisis.
Mr Kandelaars also said Geelong was likely “18 months to two years out from supply drying up.”
It follows a report from planning consultant Ethos Urban in September last year, which claimed there was less than three years of land supply in the City of Greater Geelong.
But City of Greater Geelong director of city planning and economy Gareth Smith said there was ample land available.
“Based on the City’s latest assessment, published in April 2022, there is approximately 22 years’ supply of undeveloped (zoned and unzoned) residential broadhectare land stocks across the municipality,” he said.
“Of this, there is approximately eight years of zoned residential broadhectare land.
“We regularly monitor land supply and have a strategic planning program in place that balances the need for greenfield land supply and the necessary planning and sequencing of infrastructure to support sustainable growth.”
Mr Kandelaars also hit out at the DAL decision making process.
“The Bellarine Peninsula DAL decision, like the Surf Coast DAL decision before it, disregards the standing advisory committee’s recommendations. It places politics over proper planning process.
“The decisions of the Bellarine Peninsula DAL and the Surf Coast DAL appear to be infected by local politics.
“Both ignore independent and expert advice, and the decisions – somewhat coincidentally – align with previous public statements made by the Premier and local candidates.
“Following the State election, no matter which individual holds the role of Minister for Planning, it is imperative that our planning system returns to one in which everyone – community member, environmental group or property developer – can rely on a clear and transparent system in which decisions are made based on evidence, not votes.
Ms Neville defended the DAL decision making process.
“I have been pleased to strongly support the views of the community,” Ms Neville said.
Originally published as Geelong real estate: UDIA tips Bellarine DAL to push up house prices
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