Make plans for population to double within 50 years

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A good read by    JASON DOWLING  August 5, 2010  The AGE.

MELBOURNE'S population will double to 8 million in the next 50 years and Victoria should plan for it with more houses in existing suburbs - according to a business think tank.

The Committee for Melbourne, of which The Age is a member, today releases a strategic planning report supporting population growth and calling for greater housing density in Melbourne.

The report is particularly scathing of planning for Melbourne.  It says that with Australia's ageing population, ''the need for continued migration is widely recognised''.

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The committee's report warns that a refusal to accept population growth will hurt Melbourne with poor urban planning, and notes many deficiencies in Melbourne's current planning. It says unfettered land supply ''as a primary driver of short-term housing affordability, is now being allowed to dominate the policy discussions''.

COMMENT:  Food for thought about the UGB around Coldstream and the Dual Occ debate.