Cardinia’s growing pains

CARDINIA is bursting at the seams.
More than five families are moving into the shire everyday, equating to 38 families a week. In Pakenham alone, four families are moving into town a day, 28 families a week.
And this growth is expected to continue for years to come.
Speaking at a business breakfast last week, a council engineer said the council was under pressure to build enough infrastructure to meet the needs of the booming population.
He told the Gazette the projected population for 2030 would in fact be met by 2020.
“We really are under the pump to ensure we will have the infrastructure to meet the population sooner than we thought we would,” he said.
“It’s an exciting time.”
Cardinia Shire planning and development general manager Phil Walton said the shire’s population currently stood at 72,500.
“It is expected the shire will have 111,381 residents by 2021 and 143,396 by 2031,” Mr Walton said.
“The shire is committed to nurturing a strong and vibrant community.
“By doing this we are dealing with the fast growth through a number of measures including reviewing population projections, planning for new community infrastructure and services.”
He said the council was taking a pro-active approach to delivering much-needed facilities and services and responding to evidence that it was crucial to forward plan and ensure the growing population had everything it needed.