State Property Council executive director Cressida Wall urges developments to be beautiful

MELBOURNE’S population is booming amid concerns about congestion and over development. But the new head of the property lobby says our liveability need not be compromised.

Cressida Wall is the new boss of the state Property Council.

DEVELOPERS must build sustainable and beautiful housing so that residents embrace change in their neighbourhoods, says the new boss of the property industry lobby.

Property Council of Victoria executive director Cressida Wall said there was no reason that Melbourne’s prized liveability should be compromised amid rapid population growth.

“There’s a false dichotomy between growth and great cities … they can be the same thing,” she said.

“If you build sustainable, beautiful things people can get behind it and if you don’t it’s really hard.”

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Cressida Wall is the new executive director of the state Property Council. Picture: David Crosling

Ms Wall, a former adviser to the Labor Bracks and Brumby governments, recently became the state’s top property spruiker — a role previously held by Lord Mayor Sally Capp.

A lawyer, she also has extensive experience in the private sector and has been involved in property for 15 years.

“I am uniquely placed to translate between the private sector and government, and get some really good outcomes,” she told the Herald Sun.

Melbourne needs at least one million extra dwellings in the suburbs by 2051, says Property Council

The Property Council has released a five-point platform for next month’s state election that calls for a big increase in housing supply.

It wants annual targets published to meet the need for an extra 1.1 million dwellings in established suburbs by 2051 when Melbourne’s population is expected to top eight million.

The council also wants an extra 50,000 lots of development-ready land in growth corridors annually, a move from “emotionally-driven” planning processes and changes to property taxes.

Asked about local residents’ angst over higher density housing, Ms Wall said that government and industry needed to work together “to tell that story to people so everyone can get behind it”.

“I don’t think our industry would ever advocate that people have to give up on lifestyle, to abandon their expectations,” she said.

“I think as time goes by and people travel and people understand the perspective of other cities they will see the relativities more.”

New boss of the state Property Council Cressida Wall loves Melbourne’s lifestyle. Picture: David Crosling

While originally an Adelaide girl, Ms Wall loves Melbourne’s vibrancy and the wide range of activities on offer.

She said that the city’s experience of developing Docklands would help in creating the Fishermans Bend precinct, but she was frustrated by the time it was taking to develop.

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@JMasanauskas