Metropolitan Melbourne Investigation - Victorian Environmental ...

Several submissions were concerned about this predicted
decline in public open space per capita, particularly
in established municipalities. While there are potential
opportunities for increasing the amount of public
open space in growth municipalities, there are fewer
opportunities in established municipalities.
For areas within the Urban Growth Boundary, public open
space per capita was projected to decrease over time
for all municipalities except Knox and Nillumbik. Growth
municipalities, such as Cardinia and Wyndham, will be
relying on new open space to offset population growth.
Otherwise, levels of open space per capita in some
growth municipalities and the outer municipality of Greater
Dandenong may decrease to lower levels than some
established municipalities.
Recently released Australia Bureau of Statistics’ 2
population estimates for metropolitan Melbourne indicate
that the current population in some municipalities
(Bayside, Brimbank, Glen Eira and Moonee Valley) has
already exceeded the projections for 2016 (that is,
population growth has been more rapid than anticipated).
As the revised Victoria in Future population projections
have not yet been released, this report is providing open
space per capita for 2010 only. Readers are referred to the
discussion paper for VEAC’s previous projections of open
space per capita over time.
Figure 5.4 shows public open space in hectares per
thousand people for each municipality in the investigation
area. As can be seen, public open space per capita
differs widely across the investigation area, from one
hectare/1000 people in Glen Eira to 269 hectares/1000
people in Cardinia (a function of this municipality’s large
area and relatively small population).* Public open space
per capita is generally higher in the growth municipalities
and lower in the inner municipalities.
FINDINGS
F7
F8
F9
There is an uneven distribution of public open
space across the investigation area, with no
clear patterns apparent. However, established
municipalities generally have less public open
space per capita than outer and growth
municipalities.
Without the retention and creation of public
open space on both public land and local
council land, public open space per capita will
decrease over time for almost all municipalities
in the investigation area.
Current planning to ensure that adequate
public open space is provided in growth
municipalities needs to continue. Without this
planning, there is a risk that areas of these
municipalities will have similar or lower levels
of public open space over time than some
established municipalities because of their
rapidly growing populations.
F10 The projected decrease in public open
space per capita is likely to be exacerbated
in established municipalities where there is
limited scope to create additional public open
space to meet population increases.
Figure 5.4 also shows public open space in hectares per
thousand people for the areas of municipalities within the
Urban Growth Boundary. As shown in this figure, public
open space per capita changes considerably for growth
and outer municipalities. For example, open space per
capita in Greater Dandenong (3.6 hectares/1000 people)
is less than that of many established municipalities. Most
other growth and outer municipalities have between five
and ten hectares of open space per thousand people.
* The analysis uses population figures from the Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS). 2 The ABS does not provide separate population figures for areas inside
and outside the Urban Growth Boundary. For the purposes of these analyses it has been assumed that a low proportion of the population currently resides
outside the Urban Growth Boundary in the investigation area and the population figures for entire municipalities have been used to approximate population
figures within the Urban Growth Boundary.
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