The party wants to see rent reductions of up to 50 per cent for creative, tech and innovative businesses that sign long-term leases in Melbourne’s CBD and Docklands in a policy estimated to cost $490 million over five years.
The Greens also want to make the city more liveable for residents with regulation of short-term holiday rentals, limits to construction noise and traffic, and improved building design. It also proposes converting some roads, including Spencer Street, into pedestrian thoroughfares.
The Greens want up to 30 per cent of accommodation in new developments set aside for social and affordable housing, which would see apartments in the CBD available to buy from $300,000.
The party is concerned essential workers, such as teachers, cleaners and nurses, have been priced out of the city. The Melbourne goal would be part of the Greens’ previously announced $7.5 billion plan for 1 million affordable homes to be built over the next four years across Australia.
Greens deputy leader Ellen Sandell said the nature of working from home meant the city had fundamentally changed.
“[The city] used to be a place where the majority of people came to work in an office. That’s not going to be the case anymore,” she said.
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“The city is going to be a place where people come for unique experiences. There might be restaurants or arts events or businesses that people just can’t get in their own suburb; that’s the reason why people will go there.”
The Greens plan to progress the CBD revitalisation plan through local, state and federal governments. Some of the plan’s costing is still to be determined by the Parliamentary Budget Office.
“The state government and the federal government just don’t seem to have a plan beyond crossing their fingers and hoping things will go back to normal,” Ms Sandell said.
“We also know that normal wasn’t that great, there was too much traffic, there was too much noise, the city wasn’t always the best place to live … so there’s actually a chance here to say let’s not just go back to normal.”
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‘Normal wasn’t that great’: Greens call for rethink on Melbourne’s CBD
Source: Philippines Alive
