MELBOURNE'S booming population is generating a huge infrastructure to-do list with new analysis showing the city will need close to 10,000 new childcare spots, 5700 classrooms and about 3350 hospital beds by 2025.
About 1200 new residents are expected to move to Melbourne every week for the next 40 years as the city's population swells to more than five million in 2025 and 6.5 million in 2050.
Just under 60 per cent of new arrivals will settle in one of seven growth areas: Casey, Cardinia, Hume, Melton, Mitchell, Whittlesea and Wyndham.
A detailed analysis of Melbourne's growth by the Property Council of Australia paints a daunting task in term of future transport, health, education and housing needs.
Those include an extra 10,000 childcare spots by 2025 and 29,000 by 2050, about 3350 new hospital beds by 2025 and 8600 by 2050 and 5700 new classrooms by 2025 and 10,000 by 2050.
The big squeeze will also test Melbourne's retirement and aged-care facilities as the city's median age rises to 38 in 2025 and 41 in 2050.
An extra 13,600 aged-care places will be needed by 2025 - a figure which will rise to more than 60,000 by 2050.
The council also estimates the city will need to build an extra 380,000 houses and apartments over the next 12 years and close to a million by 2050.
Melbourne drivers will also be clocking up an extra 10 million kilometres by 2025 and 24 million by 2050.
Demand for energy will rise from 81,905 terajoules to 100,483 TJ in 2025 and 120,324 TJ in 2050 while water use will increase from 260 gigalitres to 318 GL and 412 GL over the same period.
Urban planners, local councils and key business figures are increasingly voicing concerns that little progress is being made on rolling out major infrastructure items needed to maintain the city's quality of life.
"We need to get smarter as a city," Property Council of Australia state executive director Jennifer Cunich said.
"Melbourne residents want to see progress on major strategic initiatives that will guide growth and make sure Melbourne keeps moving in years to come."
RMIT planning expert Michael Buxton said major transport items such as railway lines had been consistently put off by both Liberal and Labour governments unwilling to run a budget deficit.
"The reason governments haven't done these things is because they have become obsessed with a private model of infrastructure and budget surpluses rather than borrowing to fund some of these large items," he said.
Committee for Melbourne acting chief executive Andrea Gaffney said top infrastructure priorities needed to be:
PUSHING forward with the Melbourne Metro project to improve rail links between the city's northwest and southeast.
ELIMINATING the city's 30 busiest railway level crossings.
BUILDING dedicated rail links to both Melbourne and Avalon airports.
CREATING a dedicated freight and logistics strategy to prepare for increased freight movement to and from the Melbourne, Hastings and Geelong ports.
DEVELOPING Fishermans Bend, near the West Gate Bridge, as part of a wider urban renewal project.
"A visionary, long-term plan is essential to ensure Melbourne can get better as it gets bigger," Ms Gaffney said.
heraldsun.com.au 25 Mar 2012
A deliberate failure on behalf of the authorities, in not providing enough infrastructure to cater for the population.
The authorities have compounded the problem even more by allowing 'back doors' to official immigration quotas, that are causing even more problems for the general populous, all in the name of earning a quick buck.
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