Property Council calls for commercial development opportunities, no new taxes for Metro Rail

Government should leverage the development opportunity of the Metro Rail project and rule out levying property owners and businesses to pay for its delivery, according to the Property Council.

These views were addressed to the Victorian Premier, following the Government’s recent decision to proceed with the major infrastructure project.

The Property Council has welcomed the announcement and believes that the five new train stations proposed as part of the project should also operate as mixed use centres of commercial, retail, employment and community activity, rather than just public transport hubs.

Rather than levy property owners, we have called on Government to fund the project through consolidated revenue or well managed government debt.

We strongly support the Premier’s recent comments on ABC 774 with regards to exploring how Victoria’s strong budgetary position could be used to borrow more for public infrastructure delivery.

For the Property Council, success of the Metro Rail will require these two criteria to be met. We look forward to working with the State Government to maximise the full benefits of this multi-billion investment.