As Bob Dylan sang, the times they are a changin'. It's easy to overlook change when it's happening before your eyes daily but Warrnambool is. Subtly and not so subtly.
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The city's skyline will be different when the new $20m library and learning hub is completed later this year. But the $70m townhouse and retail development planned for the former Callaghan Motors site will change it even more. Throw in the development on the former Criterion Hotel site and movement in the city's east with the Lyndoch Living medical centre, the level of investment and development is significant.
Two motels in the city's east will cease trading in a few weeks before making way for another retail development that will reportedly house JB Hi-Fi and Officeworks.
"There's definitely a change in the landscape in Warrnambool. There's no doubt about that," long-time Warrnambool real estate agent Mark Dwyer said. "I think Warrnambool is really bubbling along quite well. I've been in the game a long time and I've never known it to be as good as what it is at the moment."
The city is booming. Development is a sign of confidence in the long term, which is positive. The city's population is expected to hit 40,000 people within 14 years and with that growth comes challenges. Significant challenges like housing. The city's population, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data, barely grew yet we are experiencing a housing crisis like never before. And it's not isolated to Warrnambool, it's happening in other towns across the region. So what will it be like in 2036?
Developments like those under way in Mortlake Road, the Callaghans and Criterion projects will no doubt help plus there's two new housing projects on the drawing board for Wollaston Road and more land being opened up for housing east of Aberline Road. Wannon Water is preparing to spend more than $40m to upgrade the city's wastewater treatment plant and as we reported today, it is looking to build a new water tower in the north to cater for increased demand and that area's growing population. Can the rest of the city's infrastructure cope?
The road network is becoming congested in key areas at certain times but will the city council look to develop a bridge over the Merri River that will link Bromfield Street to Wollaston Road? It's been talked about for years but is it possible given the once-in-50-year event in 2020 that flooded where many thought the road would go? Can the city afford it? Can it afford not to?
It might well be the price of development.
