Melton council will maintain its membership with the National Growth Areas Alliance (NGAA), which advocates for a stronger federal focus on the needs of the country’s fastest-growing outer suburbs.
At the July 28 Melton council meeting, councillors voted unanimously to renew council’s membership in the alliance for the next three years at a cost of $34,7434.81 per annum.
According to the council, the alliance is the peak body for local governments in Australia’s fastest growing metropolitan cities and suburbs and advocates at federal and state levels for improved policies and funding for growth area councils.
Councillor Sophie Ramsey said that in 2011 to 2012, the alliance “absolutely fought tooth and nail to help us get the Western BACE up”.
Cr John Verdon said he has met with the alliance to discuss how they put the challenges of growth areas really on the national agenda, and “how our unique pressures are quite different from those from established areas, from regional and rural councils”.
“The support they offer in terms of the analysis and some of those struggles and pipelines are really critical to the work that we do as a growth council,” Cr Verdon said.
The NGAA was established in 2009, and 22 councils across Australia are members of the alliance, representing more than five million people.
According to Melton, the alliance advocates for comprehensive policy reforms and increased investment in essential infrastructure projects, delivers advocacy strategy, and implements targeted campaigns aimed at ensuring that the needs of local governments and their communities in growth corridors are continually heard and heeded – particularly in the leadup to federal elections.
