Following a community co-design process, a draft concept plan has been developed, which shows where all the much-loved facilities would be positioned on the McMillan Street site as it evolves over the next 30 years.

Why housing is included in the draft concept plan

Why is affordable housing needed in Anglesea?

There is an urgent need for affordable rental housing in Anglesea. It’s needed for people like families with kids at local schools, for those experiencing relationship breakdown, for teachers and other local key workers, many of whom have lived in the town for most of their life.

We are all likely to know these people but often they won’t share their challenges or ask for help.

Renters earning under $105,000 a year are classified as being in ‘rental stress’, with the Anglesea median rental price of $625 per week.

For those paying off a mortgage, with the average Victorian mortgage repayment of $962 per week, it means even households earning $167,000 a year would be in ‘mortgage stress’.

Some real life Anglesea examples:

Story 1: “I have lived in Anglesea for over 18 years and raised my family here. This year a new real estate agent raised my rent by over $250 per week. I couldn’t afford this and had to move out.”

Story 2: “Our original rental has increased 67% in five years whilst my salary has gone up 8%.”

Story 3: “I am working full time as a (local) teacher. I have lived in Anglesea for the past 10 years. We are living in a 2 bedroom apartment as it was the only place we could afford to live on two full time wages. Our rent goes up every year when we renew our lease and every year we are calling the real estate to check if we are going to have a house for the following year.”

Why housing at this site?

Private land is not providing affordable housing. The hub is a Council owned site – and will remain in public hands - which means we have a significant opportunity to make an impactful contribution to the local affordable housing crisis.With control over the land, Council can choose a suitable not-for-profit housing partner to provide affordable housing.

What will the housing look like?

This will be looked at closely in the next stage. There is an opportunity to provide different forms and types of affordable housing in this location that responds to the character of the area. Housing design will be in keeping with what locals love about the area and the design principles developed by the co-design group.

Why wasn’t the rental housing located near Melaleuca Lane (where the kinder currently is) in the draft concept plan?

We have continually heard from kinder families that they want to retain the kinder facility in is current location given it was renovated about 10 years ago and it can meet their current and future needs. There is no certainty that funding will be provided by the state government to move the kinder to the school site. Given all this, the draft concept plan retains the functioning kinder building in its current position, instead of removing and relocating it to provide space for future rental housing.

This initial proposed concept (below) was considered as a part of Phase 2 community engagement.

Following community feedback, we are moving to a co-design process, to develop a new draft concept plan that will be shared with the wider community for feedback.

Phase 2 proposal included consideration of:

• A two-storey community and health hub building fronting McMillan Street. The concept is for community hub and health functions to be housed in one building, but operate in separate spaces with their own entrances.
• On the ground floor would be: Anglesea Medical Centre; Council’s Child and Family Health service; kindergarten; occasional care; playgroup; and space for Anglesea Community House reception.
• On the first floor would be: Barwon Health clinical spaces; services and programs provided by the community house and auspice groups; space for environmental champions Angair; Anglesea Historical Society; and Anglesea Senior Citizens Centre.
• Outdoors would be: nature play spaces for occasional care and kindergarten and a ‘green heart’ - a public community space for events, activities and informal gatherings.
• Remaining on the site will be: the Community Garden; Ambulance Victoria; Anglesea Memorial Hall; the Angair propagation shed; and Rangi Marie - the home of Anglesea and District Historical Society.
• No service, program, event, trees or parking spaces will be lost from the site.
• Five townhouses and 14 apartments at the rear of the site will help address the key worker accommodation crisis.

Proposed option

Existing layout of Anglesea Community and Health Hub

Map key: 1. Anglesea Maternal Child Health 2. Anglesea Kindergarten 3. Anglesea Toy Library 4. Anglesea Memorial Hall 5. Memorial Hall Youth Room 6. Angair (Anglesea, Aireys Inlet Society for the Preservation of Flora and Fauna 7. Anglesea Senior Citizens Club 8. Anglesea Medical Centre 9. Anglesea Community Hall 10. Barwon Health
11. Ambulance Victoria 12. Anglesea Historical Society - ‘Rangi Marie’ 13. Anglesea Community GardenRender of the eastern elevation of the proposed Community ad Health Hub building. The existing Memorial Hall is shown on the right.

View the Phase 2 - draft precinct plan

Summary of the Anglesea Community and Health Hub Draft Precinct Plan

Full draft precinct plan