Locals angered over green-lit plans for new suburb in outer northern Melbourne area already under strain

Name: Locals angered over green-lit plans for new suburb in outer northern Melbourne area already under strain
Uploaded: 2025-08-06T01:11:43+00:00
Duration: 2 min 11 s
Channel: ABC NEWS (Australia)
Description: The government has approved the construction of a large housing precinct in Melbourne's outer north, which it says will see 15,000 new homes, four town centres, and eight schools built south of Wallan. Locals from nearby communities have raised concerns over the approval of a new quarry for the area as part of the plans.

00:00Melbourne's outer north is one of the fastest growing areas in the state and this wedge of land will soon join the throng.

00:0915,000 homes for about 47,000 residents.

00:14A new suburb between Wallen and Beveridge has been approved but those towns are already bursting with jammed and narrow roads and little public transport.

00:22We have a one lane in and a one lane out onto the highway and it struggles and the roads are collapsing underneath our cars.

00:31There's already a really significant lag in the delivery of infrastructure.

00:36It will be delivered in a new way and that is a staged way.

00:40People in this area want infrastructure delivered before not after people move in.

00:46The plan comes with new schools and parks but controversially it also includes a quarry at its heart.

00:52A quarry flies in the face of a logical decision.

00:56The state's decision ignores community wishes and warnings from council and experts who say it will discourage development, block plans for better local roads and damage community health.

01:06It's a greenfield site, it has significant wetlands and we want it to be home to a vibrant community.

01:13Houses and public spaces and lots of public facilities but that opportunity I feel has been compromised.

01:21Developers will be building and trying to sell homes just 500 metres from blasting and rock crushing for the next 30 years.

01:29The quarry will operate until 2052 and has a 500 metre buffer zone.

01:34Having a quarry close to demand means that you can deliver construction materials.

01:39They can be cheaper which means the cost of delivery housing is cheaper as well.

01:45Cheaper homes for people to buy.

01:47No, not good.

01:49I've had people that have lived near a quarry and they, well, not very good health.

01:55The government is well off the pace of its own target of building 80,000 new homes every year.

02:01To get there it needs not just new suburbs but also more apartments.

02:05And most of all, it needs them to be affordable.