We are facing challenges in fast-growing suburbs, where residents are too relied on cars to access basic needs and services. Many public lands at prime locations around train stations are poorly planned, designed, and unitized. eg, big car parks around train stations. The current Victorian state government guidelines for land use development around train stations are mainly focused on transport itself. There is a lack of guidelines for integrating other key infrastructures, services, and mixed-use facilities around train stations.

The NSW state government has guidelines for planning and development for integrating land use and transport. Those guidelines provide principles, initiatives and best practice examples for locating land use and designing development that encourages viable and more sustainable transport modes than the private car, such as public transport, walking and cycling.

In Victoria, to avoid we continuing building big car parks around train stations and still suffering from road congestion issues, we need similar guidelines to be applied across the state, to help everyone involved in land use planning and development decisions to create healthy and accessible towns and cities. These guidelines will help state government agencies and councils improve public facilities and services. They will help the industry to better locate and design trip generating development. They will also help inform the community and promote awareness of the need to moderate car use and travel demand.

I ask my fellow councillors to support this motion. Thank you.