Russell Broadbent here, your Member for Monash – bringing trust, reason, and common sense.
It’s no secret that more people have been moving to regional areas in recent years.
Who wouldn’t want to live in a region like Gippsland? It’s the perfect place to raise a family and the daily commute to the city is quite manageable - if you get a good run!
My office is based in Warragul, and one thing I’ve noticed over the past few years is the increasing number of cars on the road – getting a park in town is nearly impossible!
So I wasn’t surprised to read that Warragul and Drouin are the fastest growing areas in the nation – surpassing big cities like Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney.
In fact, this area has grown by a whopping 41 per cent in the past 10 years - that’s over 13,000 people!
It certainly explains the change in traffic conditions.
Warragul and Drouin have been labelled ‘Tradie Towns’ – with tradie numbers 22 per cent above the national average.
We’re a prime location for construction workers – not too far from the city, and there’s heaps of work here and in the city.
And it makes sense – more people, more houses, more construction and more demand.
But what doesn’t make sense is why our infrastructure is so lacking.
If we fail to keep up with this rapid growth, we risk a dire lack of services for our residents.
So maybe we should rethink a few things…
We need to be thinking ahead – what will the next decade of growth look like?
More people demands more infrastructure. It’s hardly rocket science.
That’s justice as I see it.
