On this page:

What we'll do

We’ll:

  • work with regional councils and water authorities to align planning and investment for water infrastructure with ongoing housing development to ensure essential water and sewerage services are available as new homes are built and businesses are established
  • spell out our approach to prioritising the provision of public infrastructure in greenfield areas
  • check that current Precinct Structure Plans are still delivering public infrastructure as planned
  • update the Precinct Structure Planning Guidelines to include staging plans
  • prepare staging plans for all future Precinct Structure Plans to align the delivery of public infrastructure and services with housing and employment.

Why this action is important

Growing communities need public transport, facilities and services, including schools and kinders, TAFEs, emergency services, health care, active transport and open space. Development doesn’t stop if these things aren’t provided, leaving some communities without the necessary facilities. They also need easy access to jobs.

Communities also need power, water, sewerage, drainage and flood protection infrastructure. In established areas where more homes are planned, it might be necessary to upgrade existing infrastructure (such as power, water and sewerage). There needs to be better liaison between planners and the water sector in areas where more homes are needed. In both metropolitan and regional Victoria, the water sector is a key enabler of development: insufficient water infrastructure can stop the development of homes and jobs in their tracks. This applies to both the infrastructure connecting to local communities and the region wide infrastructure required to treat and transfer water to and from those communities.

While we can identify and prioritise locations to build more homes, we can’t be certain far enough in advance about when they will be built so we can deliver public facilities and services in advance. But we plan to improve the coordination of development and public facilities and services so we can get them in place as soon as possible and make your community safe, liveable, prosperous, inclusive and sustainable.

Responsibility

  • Department of Transport (DTP)

Short term milestone

How we will do it

  • New Planning Practice Note Coordinating infrastructure delivery in greenfield areas.

Leading pillars

Page last updated: 28/02/25