The City of Casey has developed a new draft Activity Centres Strategy outlining our vision and direction to create a strong and vibrant network of activity centres across our municipality.
Activity centres are the places in our community where people go shopping, work, eat and meet, from large centres like Fountain Gate-Narre Warren CBD and the Cranbourne Town Centre to the many smaller shopping precincts and neighbourhood shopping strips of various sizes throughout Casey.
The draft strategy and the associated Planning Scheme Amendment C258 which supports its implementation are now on public exhibition, with residents invited to check them out and have their say until 24 December 2019.
The new strategy articulates Council’s vision for activity centres and guides the growth and development of the 81 existing and future activity centres across Casey.
It promotes a broader range of land uses in activity centres and encourages co-location of supermarkets, childcare, gyms and offices, with the strategy having three key focus areas:
- Shopping locally
- Increasing local jobs, especially higher wage, white-collar job opportunities
- Making our activity centres better places to spend time, and more enjoyable
City of Casey Mayor Cr Susan Serey said Council wants to create a network of vibrant activity centres that are thriving economic and social hubs for our residents and the new strategy guides how we hope to achieve that.
“Much of Casey’s potential for employment growth in knowledge-based, higher-wage businesses lies in the strength and vibrancy of our network of activity centres,” Cr Serey said.
“As such, the draft strategy focuses on jobs and economic development within Casey’s activity centres by supporting and implementing measures to increase commercial office floorspace and streamline planning processes.
“As our city continues to grow and change, we need to plan for the future and ensure our activity centres meet the needs of the community, creates more employment and supports our vision of creating Australia’s most liveable city
“I encourage the community to check out the draft strategy and have your say. Think about your local shopping centre, precinct or strip and what’s important to you when it comes to accessing them and the types of services and goods available in your neighbourhood.
“By planning sensibly and hearing from our residents about what’s important to them, we can work towards ensuring your shopping trip is a convenient experience and local jobs and services are easily accessible.”
Council will be hosting an information session on Wednesday 27 November at 6.30 pm at Bunjil Place, as well as some informal drop-in sessions at local community centres in November and December for those interested in finding out more and asking questions about the strategy.
