What is the Wodonga growth strategy?
Wodonga is expected to double its population within 25 years and has
the capacity to accommodate an ultimate population of up to 100,000
persons. The Wodonga growth strategy represents council’s vision
outlining how the city could grow and change to meet this forecasted
growth up to the year 2036 and beyond.
The council is committed to providing strategic leadership around the
city’s future growth that capitalises on the city’s assets and what
makes Wodonga unique, focusing on the principles of ‘liveability’ and
‘prosperity’ to create positive outcomes for existing and future
residents of the city.
The Wodonga growth strategy focuses on land use planning, setting
objectives and actions that seek to achieve the council’s vision from a
land use perspective. It seeks provides clear direction across a range
of the council functions to provide certainty for residents, investors
and businesses, thereby developing confidence in the long term direction
and growth of Wodonga.
Why is council preparing this work?
The council prepared the current Wodonga growth strategy in 2006,
with the strategy set out in the Wodonga planning scheme. Since it was
produced, the city has to experience significant population growth and
continues to be one of regional Victoria’s fastest growing cities and,
when combined with its twin city Albury, one of Australia’s 18th largest
cities.
This growth has brought a number of structural changes within the
city including removal of the Wodonga railway line from the city centre,
substantial residential growth in new subdivisions around the city and
major new investment at LOGIC and the city centre. It has also created a
number of opportunities and challenges for the council to consider in
how to manage this growth.
The council has also developed a number of strategic investigations
over the years that inform the future growth of the city. The Wodonga
growth strategy seeks to bring the findings from these investigations
into a single coherent document.
What work has council undertaken to date?
Over the last 12 months, the council has worked in conjunction with consultants to develop a new growth strategy for Wodonga.
The strategy has been underpinned by a series of technical studies on
issues such as growth and development trends, population change,
residential and industrial land supply.
These inform the vision for Wodonga that is supported by six key
themes including ‘efficient and sustainable settlements’, a ‘thriving
and dynamic economy’ and ‘a mobile and connected region’. Under each
theme a series of objectives and actions outline how council plans to
deliver on this vision.
Where can I view the draft growth strategy?
The Wodonga growth plan can be viewed to the right along with a short
summary about the strategy and some frequently asked questions.
Hard copies of the Wodonga growth strategy can be viewed at the
council offices, the library, the cube Wodonga and at the Baranduda
sports facility and Felltimber community centres.
How can I comment on the draft growth strategy?
The Wodonga growth strategy is available for public exhibition for a period of 28 days between 19 November and 16 December 2015.
Feedback forms are available from council’s website and at locations where hard copies of the document are available.
Council is arranging a series of drop in information sessions to be
held at locations around the city. Once details of these information
sessions will be confirmed, details will be provided on the council
website.
What is the next step?
After the public exhibition closes in December council officers will
consider all submissions and present a report outlining their findings
and recommending any changes to the January 2016 council meeting.