News Alert |

City of Ballarat Mayor Cr Samantha McIntosh has backed calls for a campaign to promote living in regional Australia and to help drive a distributed population scenario into the future.

A Regional Australia Institute’s report, Regional Population Growth: Are We Ready?, calls for alternative population growth scenarios that could ease pressures on capital cities and give regional areas an economic boost.

Cr McIntosh, who is also the Regional Capitals Australia chair, said the report confirms what Regional Capitals Australia has known for years – that building bigger metropolitan cities is not better for Australia.

“Building connected, productive and liveable regional capital cities is the key to a liveable future for Australia,” Cr McIntosh said.

“We are not only ready to grow – we are growing – and we look forward to working with both the federal and state governments to ease the squeeze on the major capitals.

“The report also endorses what RCA has been calling for, which is:

“We know that Ballarat is currently already experiencing nearly unprecedented population growth but we have been planning for this for years.

“We are living proof that regional areas can be a viable option to living in Melbourne or Sydney or Perth.

“We have more affordable housing, we have a relatively easy commute to Melbourne, we offer a safe and welcoming environment, we have ample family friendly facilities and we provide a cheaper lifestyle.”

The Regional Population Growth: Are We Ready? Report was launched today by Regional Development Minister Jaclyn Symes as part of the RAI’s national roadshow, Regions Rising.

RAI co-CEO Dr Kim Houghton says the report raises questions about Australia’s future if predicted population growth continues in the outer suburbs of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.

In Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, the outer suburban population is forecast to more than double, while Brisbane will nearly triple.

RAI co-CEO Liz Ritchie says rapid urban population growth creates challenges already clear to residents in our outer suburbs, including high house prices and rising commute distances.