armstrong creek urban growth plan volume 1 - City of Greater Geelong

Growth areas generally lag behind in terms of job provision relative to the
population and workforce base, especially in the so-called ‘higher order’ jobs. In
pursuit of economic and social sustainability, a key challenge will be to integrate
the area with employment areas and develop an internal employment structure that
achieves job mix and self-containment to the extent that this is possible. This will
provide residents with the opportunity to work locally, reducing the social, financial
and environmental costs of long commutes.
Therefore, the economic and employment strategy seeks to provide a large
number and wide range of jobs for the growth area and its workers. Employment
to population ratios for Victoria and Geelong provide the following benchmarks
(2001 data):
Victoria
Geelong
Population per Job 2.32 2.49
Armstrong Creek 23,869 22,239
This suggests that an employment target for Armstrong Creek could be set at
22,000 to 27,000 jobs, based on a population of 54,000. The lower figure in this
range will meet the crude benchmark above, but not satisfy the full job needs of the
labour force. This is considered reasonable given that Armstrong Creek will play a
sub-regional role in a Geelong region context. Therefore, the jobs target set for
Armstrong Creek is 22,000.
The Economic Activity and Employment Technical Report identified that the region
has an opportunity for competitive advantage in the areas of Education, Research,
Advanced Manufacturing, Health, Tourism, Small Businesses and Food. Future
economic growth will rely on maintaining an adequate supply of appropriately
zoned industrial land, particularly on highly accessible transport routes. The role of
urban form—especially a robust network of activity centres—is recognised in a
number of strategies as key to sustainable economic development.
The Technical Report recommends Service Industry as a strong industrial
development candidate for the growth area. It also identifies hi tech or advanced
manufacturing as possible target sectors that can blend in with commercial
precincts. Heavy industry is better suited to other parts of Geelong, where land is
already available.
This suggests an economic development strategy for the growth area based on the
following themes:
1. Economic integration: the growth area should be integrated into the
Geelong Region economy.
ARMSTRONG CREEK URBAN GROWTH PLAN / VOLUME 1 (ADOPTED 13 MAY 2008, AMENDED MAY 2010)
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