By Cara Waters
The timeline for developing Fishermans Bend – a key precinct for building new housing in Melbourne – has blown out by at least five years, an investigation by the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office having uncovered major planning delays.
The audit has revealed that the state agencies managing development at Australia’s largest urban renewal project are not on track more than a decade after the former industrial area was controversially rezoned by Liberal then-planning minister Matthew Guy.
Plans for the redevelopment of Fishermans Bend have stalled. Credit: Joe Armao
After its election in 2014, the Labor government pledged to “fix” Fishermans Bend and deliver new schools, public transport and walking and cycling links, as well as housing.
“Agencies are not on track to deliver all projects and outcomes,” the audit found. “Delivery of the framework has been extended by at least five years to 2055.”
The audit found many key planning documents are still in the draft stage or yet to be completed six years after a 2018 masterplan for the area that envisaged 80,000 people living on the 480-hectare peninsula by 2050 and the area hosting 80,000 jobs.
This included a mooted tramline and a bridge that would connect the CBD to Fishermans Bend by this year which still does not have a full approved business case. The project was meant to be delivered some time between 2020 and 2025, and the 2021-22 state budget allocated $15 million to progress planning work for the tram.
“The tramline to Fishermans Bend has taken a considerable amount of time to plan, and its level of priority as a key transport project for Fishermans Bend remains unclear,” the audit found.
A bike lane connecting the suburb to the CBD, which was supposed to be completed between 2020 and 2025, has been delayed by nine years, taking the expected completion date from 2034 to 2045.
Five short-term projects, including building the South Melbourne Primary School and upgrading the route 96 and 109 tram stops, have been delivered. But 14 out of 18 medium-term projects and all 23 long-term projects are outstanding.
These long-term projects include schools in Lorimer, Montague and Sandridge, with some developments delayed by 21 years.
Guy Naselli is president of the Fishermans Bend Business Forum and managing director of NSL Property Group. Credit: Joe Armao
Fishermans Bend was supposed to house 80,000 residents. However, the audit found that just 13,194 homes have been built, housing about 28,631 residents – or 35 per cent of the target.
Of the 80,000 jobs in the precinct, 305,533 square metres of commercial space has been developed, supporting about 9788 jobs – or 12 per cent of the target.
Illustration:Credit: Matt Golding
“Considering the economic scale of developing Fishermans Bend and the impact it will have on the surrounding communities, it is important that the public can see how the work is progressing,” the audit said.
A state government spokesman said the transformation of Fishermans Bend was “well under way”, with industries working to deliver 15,000 more homes and 4700 already delivered or under construction.
“Detailed transport planning work including light rail and mapping out locations of stations and a route for a future rail tunnel is well progressed,” the spokesman said. “[Australian Bureau of Statistics] stats show Victoria continues to build and approve thousands of more homes than any other state – and we make no apologies for our bold reforms that will boost housing supply.”
Guy Naselli, Fishermans Bend Business Forum president and managing director of NSL Property Group, said the audit report was disappointing.
“We see a lot of businesses and talk to a lot of owners and stakeholders in the area, and a lot of them have built businesses on the prospect of these changes happening a lot sooner.” he said. “The big needle mover for the area would be public transport. We’ve been hearing about this tram that’s coming out of the CBD since Matthew Guy redeveloped the area back in 2012.”
Opposition housing spokesman Richard Riordan said the report was “scathing”. He said the Andrews and Allan governments had for a long time tried to blame Guy, but it was time to acknowledge their own failure in Fishermans Bend since they were first elected.
“That’s 11 years ago. If there was a problem, it could have been fixed,” Riordan said. “We’ve got an area that can only be improved with urban renewal and development, and essentially we haven’t kicked a goal in 11 years. We’re in the middle of a housing crisis, and we could have had 80,000 or more people housed in this space. ”
Cath Evans, Victorian executive director of the Property Council, was also critical of the delays.
“This precinct urgently needs essential infrastructure – from tramlines to schools – to ensure the area is fit for purpose while addressing the housing crisis,” she said. “We urge the Victorian government to streamline planning processes, ensure transparency in development timelines, and prioritise infrastructure investments.”
The City of Melbourne and City of Port Phillip are responsible for helping to deliver some of the projects in Fishermans Bend, but the audit found the councils are no longer involved in key committees about the precinct.
The City of Melbourne has baulked at participating without a partnership agreement as it “opens it up to unnecessary risk”.
“It does not want to be incorrectly perceived as validating work by the taskforce that it does not consider it has been adequately consulted on,” the audit said.
Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece said Fishermans Bend had the potential to help solve Victoria’s housing crisis.
“We have collectively failed here, and we owe it to all Melburnians to learn the lessons in this report and get on with it to deliver on the potential of Fishermans Bend,” he said. “It is incumbent on all of us in positions of civic leadership and infrastructure delivery to read this report, understand what’s gone wrong, and then get on and bloody fix it.”
Port Phillip Council said the state government was failing “to honour the commitments” of the partnership agreement by not consulting with it on key issues and decisions, describing it as “not a true partnership”.
Port Phillip Mayor Louise Crawford said the delays in progressing infrastructure and precinct planning had created “risks and challenges” for the development of Fishermans Bend.
“The early delivery of major public transport projects, such as a tram and train, will be one of the biggest determinants of the success of Fishermans Bend in delivering new homes and jobs,” she said.
Jeroen Weimar, secretary of the Department of Transport and Planning, said in a letter in response to the audit that much had changed since the framework had been released.
“We have experienced a pandemic, new terms of government, multiple machinery of government changes and the emergence of significant new government policy, including the release of Victoria’s Housing statement in 2023, that bear directly upon the delivery of the framework,” he said.
“Development is comfortably on track to achieve the vision for 80,000 residents and 80,000 jobs by 2055.”
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