Draft Housing and Settlement Strategy - South Gippsland Shire ...

South Gippsland Housing and Settlement Strategy | Consultation Draft2.6 COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURECommunity infrastructure may be defined as a collection of physical,publically accessible assets used by the community to support health, wellbeing, sense of place and community.Community infrastructure includes physical assets and buildings (‘hardinfrastructure’), supportive infrastructure designed to assist people to accessphysical assets (‘soft infrastructure’), and social capital developed throughcapacity building. In its broadest sense community infrastructure caninclude:• buildings of a variety of sizes capable of delivering services andsupporting social activities and groups• outdoor spaces for gatherings, markets and events• footpaths, bike paths and bike lanes• parks and other open spaces, and the amenity that supports use,such as pavilions, swimming pools, change rooms and toilets• outdoor furniture and amenity such as drinking fountains, seats,shade trees, barbecues, rotundas, playgrounds, playgroundequipment• community and public transport services, stops and shelters.Community infrastructure may be developed and managed by localgovernment, State Government, community groups, not-for-profitorganisations, religious organisations, and even the private sector. Given therange of potential stakeholders a partnership approach is required in orderto ensure community infrastructure meets the needs of the communities itserves and is delivered in an efficient manner.Compared to other parts of regional Victoria, South Gippsland has a highlydispersed population, with only 35% of people living in its two largestsettlements – Leongatha and Korumburra. In addition, there are significantdifferences in age structure and income across the municipality and itssettlements. Population projections suggest that these differences willbecome more significant in the future as growth is focussed in the northwestof the Shire; and as the population profile ages, particularly towardsthe south-east.The purpose of Community Infrastructure is to deliver potential to all Shireresidents,-‐‐to live culturally rich, successful and socially included lives. Inrelation to Community Infrastructure, the context for the Shire includes:• The Shire has changed significantly over the past few decades.People are now moving into the Shire to retire, or to commute tomajor employment areas -‐‐ Melbourne, Dandenong, or the LatrobeValley. These populations have different needs to longer termresidents of the Shire.• Places identified for permanent settlement, and others identifiedas holiday destinations have changed purpose and now contain amix of both types of residents and will continue to do so.• Many of the most disadvantaged [poor, renting and in housingstress] live many kilometers from shops and amenity in areaspreviously used as holiday destinations, and in areas that were notpreviously permanent settlements but now are for example VenusBay.• Many older residents also live some distance from amenity on theperiphery of the Shire. For some, local amenity can mean thedifference between successfully ageing in place, or needingadditional care.The dispersed and diverse nature of the Shire’s population createschallenges in relation to the planning and delivery of communityinfrastructure. While growth is occurring, and is projected to continue, it isfocussed on a small number of settlements. The rate of growth in thesesettlements is relatively modest, making it difficult to fund investment in© planisphere 2013 25