GOVERNMENTS should be proactive, take on big urban renewal and infrastructure projects rather than wind back activity in this current economic climate, Victoria's former premier Jeff Kennett has told the Australian Property Institute's 26th Pan Pacific Congress in Melbourne yesterday.
Kennett, premier of the state from 1992-1999, along with then planning minister Robert McClelland, has been credited with successful urban renewal projects such as Beacon’s Cove in Port Melbourne, Federation Square in the CBD and the Docklands precinct to name a few.
Kennett said he believes governments should always be careful with taxpayers’ money and endeavour to deliver a surplus. However having said that he added that he is not adverse to a deficit budget if it means the governments embark on projects which yield results over the long term, 20 – 50 years, because Kennett said governments have a duty to stimulate the economy, change people’s negative outlook by providing them with a clear program of growth.
“You have to look long term. We talk about governments today, it’s all about the short and the next election. So you can be sure that the quality of their administration will be less than optimal and we will all pay a price for that,”
Kennett said when his government was voted in, the state economy was crippled, Victoria was very much on its knees, the city was empty and there was no activity.
“We set about changing that, renewing the state library, the arts and sports precinct, Federation Square, Docklands.
“Urban renewal and building a cosmopolitan city like Melbourne goes well beyond buildings and infrastructures, it’s about creating opportunities and exciting people, the culture and lifestyle,” he continued.
Kennett pointed to the commercial success of the Docklands precinct, which has taken 20 years to realise and remains a development in progress, due for completion in 2020.
“Federation Square was another urban renewal project, to open up the space to the public. We held an international design competition and when we first announced the project, we were criticised, but we fought for it and today Federation Square is one of the most used public spaces,”
Kennett said all those bold ideas were set in place when “things were tough” in Victoria, not during a boom.
“Today many of you who walk around Melbourne CBD will see lots of signs of vacant shops or offices for lease. And it is because we have spent the past two to three years talking about an economic slowdown.
“The biggest test for us now is how we plan for renewal in the future under economic hardship…,”
Kennett said there are great urban renewal opportunities such as the 240 ha Fishermans Bend. He added that the government needs to consider the changing lifestyle of the population when redeveloping this area.
He said today’s young people do not want to live on broad acre lots and older people might not necessarily want to live in retirement villages.
Kennett also made a bold proposal and said Melbourne should start planning to relocate the rail network underground and free up the surface for other opportunities such as housing, offices and other accommodations.
He admits that taking the rail underground would cost the state hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars, but he added that in 50 years time, it would seem cheap.
“We can hardly accommodate the traffic on the surface of our community in an efficient way and it is only going to get worse.
“Today governments can borrow money at interest rate of 3.0% and if the projects costs are too high, they can partner with the private sector in Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs),” he pointed out.
Kennett said during economic hardships, bold reforms setting out a clear program for growth are needed, putting in place renewal for the future beyond the year 2050.
“But when times are tough and when the public understands the seriousness of the moment, that is the moment when things are exciting, are most challenging and most rewarding. But when things are going well, we become complacent, bloated, hubris, there is no great passion and things are often done driven by financial outcomes,”
Kennett said during these times, bureaucracy increases and this is when bad designs and projects creep into the landscape.
“And we should not allow bad and/or cheap designs in a modern cosmopolitan city,”
Looking back at his urban renewals reforms, Kennett said he only has one regret.
“I wish we could have done it better at Docklands,”
He said although the 140 ha precinct has been transformed from wasteland and decaying buildings to a thriving commercial hub, he wishes there was a cohesive vision for the precinct, where companies would tender and build components of that plan, rather than a free-for-all approach.
“Victoria is only on the first step of urban renewal,” Kennett concluded.
Property Review
