Article: Health fear on estates

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From the Melbourne Age click here!

Health fear on estates

Health fear on estates
Miki Perkins
March 15, 2012

NEW suburbs in Melbourne are so poorly designed that residents face an epidemic of chronic diseases such as obesity and depression that will cost the health system millions of dollars, a state government inquiry has been told.

Councils in outer growth areas say soaring populations have outstripped their ability to provide basic infrastructure such as public transport, parks and medical services, and are creating ''obesogenic'' environments that promote weight gain.

The concerns have prompted a state government inquiry into the impacts of urban design on health, and fuelled calls to make health a priority in planning laws. ''When it comes to urban planning, we are building suburbs that in 20 years will be ghettos of ill health,'' said Margaret Beavis, a Melbourne doctor who appeared before the inquiry.

Wyndham, in Melbourne's outer west, is the fastest growing municipality in Australia in percentage terms. Each week about 60 babies are born and the council receives 120 new requests for a bin service.

Mayor Kim McAliney said research showed residents were suffering from an ''epidemic'' of obesity and diabetes exacerbated by decades of car-focused planning, which meant locals had limited or no public transport within walking distance.

''We are beholden to the annual budget cycles of central governments to get buses, trains and arterial roads,'' said Ms McAliney. ''Being the fastest growing area is not something we wear as a badge of honour.''

Other councils in areas of rapid growth - such as Whittlesea, which expects a 90 per cent increase in population in the next two decades - face similar concerns.

A VicHealth submission said children living in growth areas reported higher hospital admissions for respiratory problems, which were likely to be from air pollution from road traffic.

VicHealth also wants planning regulations to take account of the risks associated with bottle shops, which are concentrated in poorer communities.

For every 10,000 litres of pure alcohol sold from a liquor shop, the risk of violence on residential properties nearby increased by 26 per cent.

''We are designing communities that are making people sick and politicians have to listen to that,'' said opposition planning spokesman Brian Tee.

Melbourne University planning expert Carolyn Whitzman said Melbourne needed to stick to its urban growth boundary and encourage mid-rise development throughout, rather than ''sprawl'' on the fringes and high-rise in and around the centre.

In 2010, the Brumby government extended Melbourne's urban growth boundary by 43,600 hectares - increasing what was already one of the world's most sprawling urban areas, stretching 100 kilometres from east to west.

Many experts told the panel that health needed to be made a key objective in the state's planning laws. The Age contacted Planning Minister Matthew Guy but did not receive a comment before deadline.

The committee is expected to release its report by June.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/health-fear-on-estates-20120314-1v3lw.html

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