Limestone Coast needs infrastructure to host population boom, leaders say
Mount Gambier is SA's largest regional city and is set to be home to most of the Limestone Coast region's growth. (ABC South East SA: Bec Whetham)
In short:
The Limestone Coast Regional Plan predicts the area's population will be about 86,500 people by 2051.
Local leaders say funding and infrastructure works are needed to meet the targets.
What's next?
The Limestone Coast Regional Plan is open for public consultation.
South Australia's Limestone Coast would increase its population by 18,000 people by 2051, requiring more than 8,500 new homes, under a new state government plan.
The Limestone Coast Regional Plan is out for public consultation and outlines expected population, housing and employment growth in the region.
It covers Mount Gambier, SA's largest regional city, and other major population centres including Naracoorte, Millicent, Penola, Keith, Bordertown and Robe.
More than 8,500 new homes are expected to be built in the region in the next 25 years, with the majority in Mount Gambier. (ABC South East SA: Bec Whetham)
The region's population is currently about 68,000 people, with about 30,000 people living in Mount Gambier and the surrounding districts.
Under the plan, the region's population is expected to grow to 86,500 people, with 57 per cent of that growth projected for Mount Gambier.
Planning Minister Nick Champion said the state government was planning for high population growth across the state.
"The past 30 years we've had a pretty low population growth. We've exported a lot of people to the eastern states," he said.
Nick Champion says the state government is planning for high growth around the state. (ABC News: Carl Saville)
"We've now got a growing economy, a really strong regional economy, so it means people stay and it attracts people too.
"We've got a great quality of life, whether that's the Limestone Coast, other regions, or the city itself."
Mount Gambier housing boom
To house the expected population growth, the plan calls for 8,610 additional homes to be built.
More than 70 per cent of those new homes would be in Mount Gambier.
Outer-lying areas of the city, including Mil-Lel, Worrolong and Compton, along with urban infill, are set to be hot spots for development.
Troy Bell says investors need more confidence in Mount Gambier's infrastructure. (ABC South East SA: Bec Whetham)
Independent Mount Gambier MP Troy Bell said a major civil infrastructure spend was needed in Mount Gambier to meet the current demand for new homes.
He said Mount Gambier in the future would resemble "more of a city" with three- or four-storey buildings and a more walkable environment.
"I think there's a large percentage of professionals and people looking to downsize in their later years who are quite happy to have smaller blocks and smaller upkeep," Mr Bell said.
Independent MacKillop MP Nick McBride said the plan lacked detail and the population forecast could be greater and spread out across the region.
He said investment and infrastructure for the region's existing industries was currently insufficient.
"These investments, whether they be Kimberly-Clark at Millicent, Teys at Naracoorte and JBS at Bordertown, they're not even being catered for today," Mr McBride said.
Nick McBride says the Limestone Coast Regional Plan lacks the detail needed to overcome growth barriers. (Supplied: Nick McBride)
"Let alone trying to bring in more investments which will require a greater workforce and greater housing.
"The plan highlights those great opportunities, but it doesn't say when we're going to address them, when we're going to fix them and how we're going to get there."
Mr Champion said the state government would need to invest in public infrastructure to promote housing growth.
"People are not going to subdivide blocks or do the civil work for housing development if they don't know if they have a water and sewer connection," he said.
Concerns over farming land
Forestry, agriculture, fishing and healthcare are the top employers in the Limestone Coast, with the regional plan also outlining ways to protect and grow those industries.
It also outlines new initiatives in the region expected to drive growth, including a possible rare earths mine around Wrattonbully and a battery storage park north of Mount Gambier.
The Limestone Coast produces a third of SA's agricultural produce, despite only making up 2 per cent of its land area. (ABC South East SA: Sam Bradbrook)
Wrattonbully farmer and Limestone Coast Sustainable Futures chair Todd Woodward said plans for the future should be focused on primary production.
He said projects, like the proposed rare earths mine, put agriculture at risk.
"For the past 40 years farmers have been producing food for a world that's doubled in size,"he said.
"We're doing that with less available farmland through either desertification or urbanisation."
In the plan, supporting the primary production centre to adapt to new technology, minimising the loss of farmland and managing the use of farmland with other land uses our outlined as long-term strategic objectives.
Public consultation is open on the SA government's YourSay website.