Tech giants push for piece of $30bn ‘super city’ in East Werribee
LEADING tech giants are pushing for a piece of a $30 billion super city plan that will create up to 100,000 jobs for Melbourne’s booming west.
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LEADING tech giants are pushing for a piece of a $30 billion super city plan that will create up to 100,000 jobs for Melbourne’s booming west.
The so-called Australian Education City, which is being billed as a Silicon Valley-style venture, would see a consortium buy and develop 400 hectares of state-owned land in East Werribee and transform it into a 70,000-resident high-rise centre.
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It is now hanging in the balance as the Andrews Government assesses whether to back the project ahead of the May Budget.
The AEC group, which is backed by the Investors Direct Financial Group and has engineering giant Jacobs creating the city design, was confirmed as the sole bidder to develop the land about 18 months ago, and agreed on terms of sale last year.
And Cabinet is set to make a decision on whether to proceed to the next stage of development within four to six weeks.
Advocates of the radical concept, which would entice 45,000 local and international students, say a new hi-tech precinct would combine industry and universities in one place.
Art galleries and major sports facilities, a bustling city centre bordering the water and high-rise apartments are included in the vision.
East Werribee is one of eight places across Melbourne identified by the state for major development to take pressure off the CBD and inner city and create a better quality of lifestyle in the suburbs.
A landmark analysis of Melbourne’s livability by corporate giant PwC, revealed in yesterday’s Herald Sun, laid bare the gap between the thriving inner city and many outer metropolitan areas which are lacking community infrastructure and, in some cases, jobs.
Director of City Economy, Innovation and Liveability for Wyndham City, Kate Roffey, said global leaders like Cisco and IBM were keen to be involved in the AEC project if it went ahead.
“It’s almost like a Silicon Valley of Melbourne, that is really exciting,” she said.
“We want it here, and don’t want to see this concept be taken to Sydney or Brisbane.”
Professor Rodney Maddock, a Vice Chancellor’s Fellow at Victoria University and chief economist for the West of Melbourne Economic Development Alliance, said pouring more people into the CBD for work wasn’t sustainable.
An extra 100,000 people crossing the West Gate Bridge in just over a decade would cause major problems and a polycentric city, and a handful of major new hubs like the AEC, was essential, he said.
The idea of creating a “tech-based” centre would also give the area a specialised field to develop over time.
“The government is taking quite a long time to make this decision. Once it does, I think you will find a lot of big players come forward,” Prof Maddock said.
Part of the plan is to create new links between major Chinese and Australian universities, and build an education “destination” relatively close to Melbourne.
Engineering giant Jacobs has been working on the employment precinct with staff from Australia, the US, China and the UK involved.
Jacobs’ director of design and delivery said the project would “deliver improved social and environmental outcomes by providing access to jobs closer to where people live, reducing commuting time and increasing productivity”.
The AEC is led by Chinese Australian businessman Bill Zheng, who also chairs Investors Direct Financial Group, and CEO of the project is former Docklands authority boss John Tabart.
Former premier John Brumby has been on the project’s advisory board.
Mr Tabart said the group would “continue to work with the Victorian government to deliver a world-class city and social infrastructure” that would be “central to Melbourne’s liveability.”
A government spokesman said the Australian Education City Consortium project was still being considered.
“It’s a complex proposal and the timing of the process reflects this,” he said.
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