A jobs crisis that needs a solution
Geelong’s northern suburbs have some of the worst unemployment rates in Australia. The area is desperately crying out for a solution, and we believe Lovely Banks can help.
Lovely Banks is expected to become Victoria’s largest master planned community, with 15,000 homes for 45,000 people across 10 kilometers of Northern Geelong. And a new community of this scale is guaranteed to deliver new jobs. For example, the first 600 lots of Lovely Banks are expected to deliver almost 2,700 new jobs in the first two years of the project and more than 3,500 jobs in year five.
This will help address the devastating jobless rates in Corio and Norlane that have traditionally hovered above 20% but are predicted to reach as high as 40% as Postcode 3214 is hit by the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A series of strategic agreements and partnerships between the Lovely Banks Development Group (LBDG) and local social help groups ensures that many of the new jobs will benefit residents of Postcode 3214.
“This is a critical initiative that has the potential to improve the lifestyles of hundreds of families in Geelong’s most disadvantaged suburbs,” said Bill Mithen, CEO of the Give Where You Live Foundation. “This will have a significant impact at a time when the Australian Government is planning to extinguish the JobKeeper employment supplement and many businesses are pulling back on investment.”
Independent research by leading municipal solutions specialist Ethos Urban predicts that more than 12,000 full-time equivalent jobs will be directly created during the Lovely Banks development, roughly 520 jobs for each year of the construction phase. However, total construction employment (direct and indirect) over 23 years of the development is estimated at 49,710 full-time equivalent jobs.
It is anticipated that 70% of these jobs will be in the construction industry – from builders and machinery operators to landscapers, electricians and plumbers. The remaining 30% will be in professional services: engineers, designers, brokers and conveyancers.
Lovely Banks spokesperson Todd Devine said the scale of the Lovely Banks development meant there were unique opportunities for employment and other benefits to flow to surrounding communities.
“The LBDG landowners want to make this a world-class development and are looking for ways to leverage the benefits of such a significant project to the advantage of neighbouring communities,” Mr Devine said.
The Lovely Banks development is anticipated to have a significant impact on prosperity in the state of Victoria. The project is predicted to have an $11 billion end value, providing an annual boost of $307 million to the Victorian State Product.
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This story was reported by the Geelong Advertiser on Tuesday 7 July 2020. Read their full article here.
