FISHERMANS BEND IN A POST COVID WORLD
JANET BOLITHO, BERNADENE VOSS, DAVID WESTON
15 AUGUST 2020
Fishermans Bend – twice the size of the Melbourne CBD; eventual home to 80,000 people and providing 80,000 jobs.
It is potentially the largest urban development in Australia. The question posed to our panel was: What are the opportunities and challenges presented by Fisherman’s Bend in 2020 and into the future?
Max Nankervis, town planner and academic ably facilitated a panel of three speakers: Janet Bolitho, Members of the Fishermans Bend Development Board, Bernadene Voss, Mayor City of Port Phillip, David Weston AM, Fishermans Bend Business Forum.
Some of what we learnt –
Fishermans Bend, a site bounded by the river, the bay, and the largest Port in Australia. It has been a home to industry (World War 2), home to General Motors Holden (GMH) and Urban Renewal (2012 rezoning by the Planning Minister Matthew Guy) and a new planning framework from the Andrews Government, The Fishermans Bend Framework.
The site is a complex mosaic of precincts involving every level of government with immense challenges (90% of the land is owned by private developers), contaminated soil areas, prone to flooding, availability of sustainable public transport, but also great opportunities: proximity to the CBD, home to Melbourne University’s Engineering Department and innovative industries.
We learnt about the absolute imperative for public transport, about catalytic projects and about cloudburst technology and more…….
We also were informed that. unlike other major urban renewal projects around the world and in other parts of Australia, there is no central authority guiding or managing the overall project.
Here is a short term timetable for the development at Fishermans Bend.
There is clearly an appetite for more information on the development of Fishermans Bend. A capacity crowd of 105 (not counting other people who shared a computer screen) participated in the webinar. If you missed the seminar or want to revisit it, you can find a recording HERE .
Pam Caven