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Introduction >
Ministers' messages > A
living city
 
A living city
Melbourne 2030 is an exciting project because it is about
our vision for our city. This is not a dry technical report about
land-use and transport planning. It is about the sort of city in
which we all want to live.
It deals with our green places, the cultural life of the city and
the protection of the built heritage that survives to give us a
deserved reputation as one of the world’s great Victorian-era
cities and a place where some of our modern architecture attracts
international attention.
Melbourne 2030 also looks at access and relationships. It
formulates policies to ensure that all people who live and work
in metropolitan Melbourne and the surrounding region have fair access
to the facilities needed for a healthy, safe and productive life
– to quality housing, shops, schools, hospitals and places
to work and play – whatever their circumstances and wherever
they live. This initiative is long overdue.
Not only does Melbourne 2030 set out the Government’s vision
for the future, it begins the implementation process. We now look
forward to public comment on how we propose to put its initiatives
into action at different locations around metropolitan Melbourne
and the surrounding region.
I urge all Victorians to take an interest in Melbourne 2030, as
its implications extend far beyond the boundary of the city. Planners
are now seeing metropolitan Melbourne as one node in a network of
cities that provides the economic backbone of the State. Faster
freeway connections and the imminent arrival of fast train links
are changing the relationships between metropolitan Melbourne and
regional Victoria.
As its policies are incorporated into planning rules, Melbourne
2030 will help guide future planning decisions. It is appropriate
that it is based on the concept of enabling growth and prosperity
while preserving the quality of life we all value, and ensuring
proper protection of the environment and our cultural heritage.
Melbourne 2030 reflects the culmination of a lengthy process
and I thank the large number of people within and outside government
who have contributed. I also acknowledge the work of my colleague,
the Deputy Premier, John Thwaites. He made a substantial contribution
to shaping the direction of Melbourne 2030 as he held the
Planning portfolio until January 2002.
Mary Delahunty
Minister for Planning
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