Congratulations to CRCWSC Chair, Cheryl Batagol, who was appointed to the newly formed Fishermans Bend Development Board.

Cheryl is one of six specialists in planning, industry, finance and transport to join the new board, which is charged with ensuring Australia’s largest urban renewal project remains on track and adheres to the highest levels of governance.

The dedicated Fishermans Bend Development Board, which will be chaired by city planning expert Meredith Sussex AM, will be critical in implementing the Fishermans Bend Framework, to guide the transformation of the precinct into a new Melbourne community with a projected 80,000 residents and 80,000 jobs by 2050. The board will lead community engagement and advise on precinct plans and major decisions.

In announcing the new board, Special Minister of State, Gavin Jennings said, “The Fishermans Bend Development Board will bring together some of the best minds in the industry, to guide the development of this important precinct, so it can fulfil its potential as a great place to live, work and do business.”

The other members of the new board are Martyn Myer AO, Susan Oliver, Gary Liddle and Janet Bolitho.

“The board will play an important role in shaping the development of Fishermans Bend and it’s an absolute honour and privilege to be appointed to this position”, said Cheryl. “I am passionate about sustainable development and believe I can make a valuable contribution to the future of Fishermans Bend.”

Fishermans Bend is a major infill development at the mouth of Melbourne’s Yarra River and adjacent to Melbourne’s CBD. The vision for the precinct is a competitive, productive, liveable, environmentally sustainable, and socially inclusive development.

The CRCWSC has been invited to have an ongoing role at Fishermans Bend, building on our work to create innovative ideas to address frequent flooding at the site. Earlier this year, the CRCWSC led an Ideas for … design workshop with stakeholders, to develop solutions that marry grey and green infrastructure to manage the effects of flooding. These proposed solutions include technical responses—such as levees, pumps areas to capture water in streets—as well as social responses related to planning controls and community engagement. We will be working with the Fishermans Bend Taskforce and our industry partner, GHD, to guide evaluation, and potentially endorsement, of these ideas.

This ongoing role reflects the long term partnerships between researchers and practitioners that characterise our role as a cooperative research centre. We have been involved in Fishermans Bend since 2014, when we helped to formulate innovative water supply and wastewater options for the site (Ideas for Fishermans Bend). We also participated in other planning workshops with our partners DELWP (the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning), Melbourne Water, South East Water, and the Cities of Port Phillip and Melbourne.

You can find out more about the Fishermans Bend urban renewal project at https://www.fishermansbend.vic.gov.au/ and learn more about our role in the development at https://watersensitivecities.org.au/content/ideas-for-fishermans-bend/.

Last updated: 7th Sep 2018