New strategy to improve access, travel and land use in our region

Published on 21 April 2023

Mildura Rural City Council is developing a new strategy aimed at improving the way our community accesses key destinations including work, education, health, social activities and shopping.

The Integrated Transport and Land Use Strategy (ITLUS) will closely examine the way our community travels to these and other destinations as part of our everyday activities, as well as how land is used, to ultimately make it easier for people to get to their destination.

It will also help identify gaps and opportunities to improve transport access, particularly in relation to freight transport at local, regional and national level.

Other key objectives include:

• Analysing existing and future transport demand, including new growth areas
• Identify the role of transport in supporting economic development and liveability
• Identify the community’s transport needs
• Identify a very broad range of transport routes, including road, rail, air, pedestrian and general traffic.

Councillor for Infrastructure and Assets Glenn Milne said one of the most important stages in developing the strategy was understanding our community's needs and existing transport patterns.

"The end goal of this strategy is to make it easier and more effective to get around in our region," Cr Milne said.

"This will ultimately guide planning for future economic development, particularly in relation to growth in tourism, agriculture and transport industries, all of which rely on effective transport networks.

"Importantly, it will also aim to improve access to education, employment and services, which is critical to addressing disadvantage in the Mildura community.

"The only way we can do this is by listening to our community as it's our residents, businesses, traders and other sectors who experience first-hand where access and land use is working well and where improvements could be made."

To pull together the broadest cross section of information from the community, several different surveys have been created, tailored to specific sectors in our community.

The surveys are open from now until 10 May and can be accessed at yoursay.mildura.vic.gov.au/ITLUS

The findings of the surveys will be included in a report, which will be released for further public feedback later this year.

ENDS