Inquiry into the supply of homes in regional Victoria

One Gippsland Chair Cr Nathan Hersey spoke at the Legislative Assembly Environment and Planning Committee’s inquiry into the supply of homes in regional Victoria.

The inquiry is examining issues impacting regional communities including the areas in most need of housing, workforce challenges in the construction industry and accommodation for workers in key sectors.

Cr Hersey told the committee during a hearing in Traralgon that:

• Gippsland had a shortage of affordable and social housing stock as a result of exponential population growth;

• demand for social housing had increased by around a third since 2020, fed by some of the highest levels of homelessness and family violence in Victoria;

• the region needed to ensure housing stock was appropriate and could accommodate future population growth and social needs, particularly during the energy transition; and

• local councils required government help to fund the infrastructure needed to open more land for housing developments.

Member for Morwell Martin Cameron is the deputy chair of the Environment and Planning Committee. Member for Bass Jordan Crugnale and Member for Narracan Wayne Farnham are members of the committee.

The committee’s report is due in mid-December.

Above (from left):  Member for Monbulk Daniela De Martino, Environment and Planning Committee committee chair and Member for Wendouree Juliana Addison, committee deputy chair and Member for Morwell Martin Cameron (back), One Gippsland Chair Cr Nathan Hersey, Member for Croydon David Hodgett (back), South Gippsland Shire Director of Sustainable Infrastructure Tony Peterson and Member for Bass Jordan Crugnale.